


Sonic Forces: Unbroken Bonds

by Inkpot



Series: Another Thread: Unbroken Bonds [12]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone is traumatized, Gadget's coping mechanisms aren't great, Hurt/Comfort, I don't promise no trauma, I like mostly happy endings they're good for post-story hurt/comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Other, Possessive Behavior, Silver worries about Gadget, Sonic is a good friend, Tags May Change, author doesn't know how to tag, but I am incapable of writing major character death so there's that, but please tell me if I miss something, chapter titles are probably just going to get more ridiculous, endgame qpp infidget, if you read the lead in that's probably expected, pre-story qpp infidget, will try to warn for chapters with triggering content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23919172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkpot/pseuds/Inkpot
Summary: Sonic's still alive, and more than ready to kick some eggs.Silver wishes everyone had better coping mechanisms.Gadget has a promise to keep.And Infinite... well, who knows what's going on with him at this point.The war's not stopping, not without someone dealing a decisive blow, and getting Sonic back might be just the boost the Resistance needs to strike back. But with their 'rookie' stuck playing hide-and-seek with Infinite instead of joining their team for the first time, things change for everyone.
Relationships: Gadget the Wolf & Silver the Hedgehog, Infinite (Sonic the Hedgehog) & Gadget the Wolf, Infinite (Sonic the Hedgehog)/Gadget the Wolf
Series: Another Thread: Unbroken Bonds [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1505933
Comments: 23
Kudos: 107





	1. Gadget stows away

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to wait until I finished writing this whole thing, then do all my editing at once, buuuut I got impatient. So have this retelling of Sonic Forces, as seen through this particular AU. You'll notice I borrowed and/or adapted a lot of dialogue from Forces itself. Hopefully it doesn't get too repetitive.
> 
> This story will make a lot more sense if you've read the rest of the series, so I recommend doing that first.
> 
> A few big changes from Forces: Classic doesn't show up, Tails was with the Resistance the whole six months Sonic was missing, and several levels have been removed or rearranged. Among others, the ruby's 'power source' isn't a thing, and neither are the levels from that segment. The rest, it's better to wait and see.
> 
> (Endgame Infidget, other relationships may be implied but interpret them as you please.)

_"I've just received some incredible news. Sonic's alive!"_

_"No way! That's excellent!"_

_"What!? Oh, thank goodness! I knew it! I knew it!"_

_"He's being held in the Death Egg. Rouge says Eggman's been keeping him alive to gloat before banishing him to space."_

_"That's horrible! We have to rescue him!"_

_"Plan's already happening, Amy. I've got a squad on the way to the Space Port in the Chemical Plant to 'borrow' a shuttle. C'mon, guys. Who's up for an old school style jailbreak?"_

***

The building wasn't old, just battered, and in better shape than the others around it. Most of its windows were intact, the supports weren't in danger of collapsing, and the electricity might not work but there was plenty of daylight to see with.

In the living room, a wolf sat cross legged on the floor with his gear spread out around him. He'd checked and double checked every mechanism, made sure his first aid supplies were stocked and in date, and every other detail he could think of. Which meant he was out of ways to stall.

This was probably stupid. Silver would definitely be mad. But... he needed to do this. Some part of him wouldn't accept any other option, and it was overriding his better judgment. Not that he wanted to think too much about that.

Gadget quickly packed up his gear, snapped his belt on, and headed out. He had a shuttle to catch.

***

Spaceport was a busy place, even with nothing alive in sight. Transport vessels raced back and forth along rails, robot sentries patrolling every walkway, the smell of oil and whirring of machinery filling the air.

The resistance infiltrators zipped through with as much stealth as possible. Well some of them did anyway. Others just smashed through anything in their way without the slightest hesitation.

Gadget was one of the stealthier ones, though he was trying to keep out of everyone's sight. Fortunately the busyness of the port was plenty to remain hidden. And latching onto the occasional train shooting along the same direction as him helped him reach the shuttles at about the same time as the resistance crew.

He waited until one of the shuttles had its passengers on board and swung around into the cargo hold. It snapped closed behind him and left him in the dark, cramped space among the boxes. He used his utility light to locate a space where he wouldn't get crushed and settled in to wait.

Across the room, one of the other resistance members paused to frown at the shuttle. It looked fine now, but...

The canary in front of them glanced back with a concerned frown. "Something wrong?"

"I thought I saw something go into that shuttle."

The other soldier followed their gaze across the plaza. "Should we let the team leaders know?"

"Nah, it's probably my imagination. Come on, we can't keep them waiting."

***

The fighters tried to be quiet as they got off the ships. Sure their presence had almost definitely been detected, but it didn't hurt to at least attempt some form of subtlety.

Silver glanced around the hangar, littered with the remains of the bots they'd smashed. Subtlety. Yeah. At least they'd probably been smashed before they could send any clear warnings but there was no way their crew hadn't been noticed. They'd just have to be quick.

A flash of red caught his eye, and several others' from the startled shouts along the line. He whipped around just in time to see a familiar wolf vanish into the depths of the base.

Silver hissed several words that made the soldiers nearest him stare in alarm. He flew over to the nearest ranked crew member, which happened to be Vector, and interrupted the croc's call. "New mission info, Gadget's here."

Knuckles' furious "WHAT?!?!" was clearly audible even a few feet away from the walkie talkie. Vector winced and held it a short distance away from his face. Silver pulled out his own communicator to make it a little easier on his companion's ears.

"That wolf kid you always talk about?" Vector asked. "He wasn't on our roster, why's he here?"

"Because he wanted to be," Silver said, his face grim. "And he's not on the roster because he must have snuck in. He knew we wouldn't take him along."

"Why not? He's a good guy to have in a pinch from what I've heard."

Silver was silent. Knuckles growled on the other end of the line. "He's not allowed to be there because it's gonna get him hurt. Silver, how long-"

"He said he can hold it for around twelve hours, but who knows how long it's been already. If anyone sees him, send me a message, but otherwise we need to keep going as planned." Silver kept his tone professional, but he couldn't quite keep the shakiness out of his voice.

A heavy breath in and back out sounded through the coms. "Okay. Mission is the same, we already knew we needed to make this fast. Relaying the new objectives to everyone. Silver, are you-?"

"I'll be fine. We have work to do."

"Okay. Resistance, move out!"

***

Gadget cursed quietly to himself as he almost tripped, then righted himself and grappling hooked his way out of a sentry's path. He swung out, around a fat pillar, and unlatched his wire in time to shoot and swing again.

The inside of the Death Egg felt small even with its massive halls, the clusters of pillars dividing the space into cramped pseudo-corridors. It reminded him of the clustered trees in the forest back home, but instead of greenery and sparkling water there was only metal gleaming with slick rainbows of oil. The stark contrast of the two images made the sliver of connection that much more jarring. It made him wish to be back there, maybe not too close to the cliffs but there was that pond they'd sometimes stopped at...

Gadget shook off those thoughts as he landed on another catwalk and continued forward. He couldn't get distracted, not now. Especially when he was relying on his internal compass to keep him on track.

The resistance could manage this, he knew. They had Tails to crack the codes needed, and plenty of people to handle any additional field work. But he needed to help. It didn't make much sense, everything accounted for, but... but... somehow it was more important he do his part to rescue Sonic than that he keep himself safe.

(Maybe because Sonic was his hero maybe to make up for Infinite maybe because it was his fault the hedgehog got defeated in the first place even if it was indirectly)

A scattering of lasers had him dropping into a roll, coming back up on one knee and shooting his grappling hook at another target. He was lucky enough to find a stable anchor and swing away before the sentries below could adjust their focus.

Two or three more swings and he landed in a dark utility hallway. There wasn't any lighting, the space clearly meant for robots without need of sight, but that was fine. It just meant he was unlikely to be spotted while he got important work done.

A few covertly entered commands and less covertly clawed wires later, Gadget closed the panel and headed for the exit. That would take down the power to the main cell block. The others could handle the rest. Especially with the tugging in his chest growing more insistent by the minute, telling him he was already pushing his luck.

He had a few hours left. That would be plenty.

(It had to be.)


	2. Sonic returns and stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently aiming for updates on Wednesdays and Saturdays, though I may miss the Wednesday updates sometimes. Especially this next week or so. Cross your fingers.
> 
> Also, since I forgot to say in the beginning notes: I usually used the relevant level music as work music through writing this, and it makes good mood music if you like mood music. When there's relevant level music, anyway. Not the best chapter to remember that on... oops.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Gadget huffed as a set of large round robots approached. One or two he could handle easily, more if he caught them by surprise, but this many at once... He shifted his wispon to lightning form, readying himself for a tough battle.

A blue streak flashed into view, hitting every robot and landing in front of Gadget before the first robot hit the ground.

"Easy there, everything's cool," Sonic said with a grin. Gadget relaxed his guard, but kept his wispon out. "Are you here to rescue me?" Nod. "Can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It's been a while since I've seen a friendly face."

Gadget laughed quietly, even as the casual humor struck a painful chord with him. Not that Sonic needed to know that.

The hedgehog grinned back, then sobered some. "We should get out of here before more guards show up. Is there an exit around here?"

Gadget pointed at the shuttle at the end of the walkway, then had to start running when Sonic dashed toward it. He allowed himself a small smile as they moved. At least this much he could do right.

***

"So," Sonic said as Gadget fiddled with the shuttle's control board, "don't think we've met before. I'm Sonic, fastest feet on the planet. You?"

Gadget hit the last few buttons to secure the flight path before turning to him. "Gadget."

"Nice name. You don't talk much, do you Gadget?"

Gadget slid into one of the pilot seats, shrugging by way of answer. He could feel the clock ticking in the back of his head, and that alone was almost pushing him to nonverbal. That one word was probably all he'd manage for a while.

Fortunately Sonic seemed satisfied with that answer. "Fair enough. Do-"

The rest of his question was cut off when Gadget's headset crackled to life. Static blurred the edges of the words, but most of them came through. "-dget? Gadget, do you read? Tails, are we still getting a signal?"

"Hey Knuckles," Sonic called. "Good to hear your voice again."

A split second pause, then at least three people yelled "Sonic!" together. Gadget jumped and set the headpiece on the desk between them, volume up high, instead of risking another blast to his eardrums.

Sonic grinned. "Me. Been a while, hasn't it?"

"It's good to hear from you," Knuckles said, his tone going serious again. "No time to chat, though. We need to get everyone home safe. Is Gadget there?"

Sonic glanced over. Gadget waved. "Yeah, he's here."

"Smack him upside the head for me then tell me your location. We need to get him down here before he gets hurt."

Sonic blinked. Gadget grimaced. He'd expected them to be mad, but he hadn't really counted on them worrying. Which, was an oversight on his part. Poor planning.

Silver's voice crackled through the speaker before Sonic could respond. "Gadget, how much time do you have left?"

Gadget frowned, roughly estimating the tugging at the back of his mind. He held up five fingers, closed his hands, and held up ten fingers.

"Five or ten," Sonic translated.

"That had better be minutes and not seconds."

Gadget winced and nodded.

"It's minutes," Sonic said. His confusion had by then been replaced by focus. "We're on a shuttle headed toward the planet. I think Gadget set up autopilot?" Gadget nodded. "Yeah, autopilot." He glanced at one of the displays. "Probably at least an hour or two to the surface at this rate. Maybe more if we hit turbulence."

"Okay. Gadget, put it back in manual. Sonic, you need to pilot that thing down as fast as you can. Don't get yourselves killed, but don't worry about keeping the shuttle safe."

"Can do. See you on the surface."

"See you. And... good to hear you again."

The connection blipped closed. Sonic looked at the earpiece for a moment, then down at where Gadget was busily adjusting the board. "Do you know any of these fancy extra controls? I can translate the basics but a few of these buttons aren't anything I've seen on the Tornado."

Gadget finished his fix and paused, raising his hands to sign. "[Do you know MSL?]"

Sonic blinked, then grinned. "I only know the basics, but that includes the alphabet. Spell slow and I'll get it."

Gadget grinned back and ran through the controls he recognized, going as quick as he could risk. He really couldn't hold the bond back for much longer, and at this point it would incapacitate him instantly.

Fortunately Sonic meant it when he said he recognized the basics, and they were shortly strapped into the pilot and copilot chairs, the shuttle blasting along faster than was strictly safe. But Gadget trusted Sonic's skills, six months rusty or not.

"So," Sonic began, eyes focused on the screen but tone almost light. Almost. "Snuck into the mission then?"

Gadget made a face, then sighed and nodded.

"Heh. I'm hardly in a place to judge. But is there something I need to watch for in the next few minutes?"

At that moment, the careful shielding in the back of Gadget's mind shattered, the shards piercing him through, followed by the white hot pain of energy backlash. He tried to take a breath, but it caught in his throat, his chest constricting with the sudden onslaught of agony.

"-dget? Gadget!"

Sonic's voice broke through, and he managed to choke down a breath that came out as a sob. Through blurring vision he could just make out wide green eyes darting toward him before refocusing on the display.

"Hang on Gadget, we'll be there soon."

***

The flight seemed to take hours, even though it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Gadget's bitten back gasps of pain and the angry whirring of the engine were the only sound as Sonic pushed the shuttle beyond its limits.

(He'd been forced to leave his friends fighting alone for all this time. He wasn't going to fail one of the people who saved him, not right after getting out.)

After a seeming eternity, they entered the lower atmosphere, and Sonic readied himself to deal with landing. Never the best part of a flight. He finally registered that Gadget had gone quiet and jerked around to look at the wolf, half afraid of what he'd see.

Gadget's eyes were glossy with tears, his lower lip bitten raw, and his hands pressed tight against his breastbone, but he was still conscious. Quieter, eyes still filled with pain, but it seemed like it wasn't so all consuming anymore, even with the jostling from the descent.

Sonic relaxed just a little, turning his attention back to landing the shuttle. With the battering it was taking from the atmosphere entrance alone it wouldn't be good for more than scrap after this, but that was fine. He needed to get Gadget wherever he'd be safe.

The landing was rough, the shuttle made more for a controlled descent and without any traditional landing gear, but overall it went well if Sonic did say so himself. After a small barrel roll they even managed to land right side up.

Sonic took a deep breath before unbuckling his seatbelt before turning to help Gadget, mumbling comforting nonsense words as he did. The wolf was conscious, but unresponsive, only making vague voiceless noises in the back of his throat whenever Sonic said something akin to a question. Sonic managed to get him up and an arm hooked over his neck, supporting the wolf as they walked outside. They could get their bearings and shoot another message to the others.

They stepped out into the sunshine. Sonic took a good, long moment to breathe in fresh outside air for the first time in months before starting down the plank.

A blur crossed in front of them – not blurred by speed, it should have been well within Sonic's ability to track, yet it was still disguised by something like motion blur. The next moment Sonic realized Gadget was no longer leaning against him and dropped into an offensive stance, scanning the area.

"What were you thinking?!"

The voice drew his attention to the side, where a distantly familiar figure hovered in front of Gadget with a vice grip on his shoulders. Gadget was trying to shove him away, but was too weak for the moment to do more than squirm.

Sonic readied himself and dashed forward, only to ram directly into a set of pink-tinged metal bars and fall on his butt. He hopped up and grabbed the bars, growling angrily at the person responsible for his long term imprisonment.

The masked figure didn't even seem to notice him, too focused on Gadget. "You know that limit innately better than I could ever know it on the surface, and that means you knew how bad your chances of getting back intact were but you did it anyway! Are you _trying_ to shred your essence from the inside out?!"

Gadget raised his head, making eye contact despite the mask blocking his sight.

"You – this has nothing to do with me, like I care what that did to my energy right now. I'm just-" He shifted his grip to pull Gadget into a crushingly tight hug. The wolf didn't even struggle against it, just allowed himself to fall limp, his head dropping on the other's shoulder. "Damn it Gadget, I already lost everything else. What am I supposed to do if I lose you too?"

"Same as me."

The masked figure froze. He slowly leaned back, meeting Gadget's eyes again. "Huh?"

Gadget's expression was utterly blank. "I already lost you."

Sonic could see all the fight drain from the masked figure's frame at once. He started to step away, then paused, hands still gripping Gadget's shoulders.

It finally occurred to Sonic that he could just step around the barrier blocking his path, but he didn't. Something seemed...

Silver arrived at that moment, flying faster than Sonic had ever seen him go with a teal glow that was almost painful to look at. He immediately zeroed in on the other two. "Let him go, Infinite!"

The masked figure turned to him, only moving his head. A couple seconds passed before he motion blurred again, pushing Gadget against Silver's chest before blurring back to his former position. Silver dropped most of the energy to wrap his arms around Gadget before the exhausted wolf fell over.

"I can't protect him with my energy stores this depleted," Infinite said, his voice cool and ominous, as void of emotion as he hadn't been moments earlier. "So I'll let you handle the rest. Make sure he rests properly."

"You seem pretty sure this isn't going to kill him," Silver said, his voice sharper than the question implied.

Infinite snorted. "If this was going to kill him, I'd be dead already. Watch yourself, hedgehog. Just because he's fond of you doesn't mean I won't hurt you." And with a last blur of motion, he vanished.

Silver hissed a couple curses before looking down and hissing a few more when he saw Gadget had passed out on his shoulder. He looked up when Sonic stepped toward him. "HQ isn't far from here. He can rest some, and you can greet everyone. They'll all be happy to see you again."

"Sounds good. But I expect someone to explain what just happened before the welcome party."

"I'll see what I can do. Follow me."

A flash of familiar cyan light caught Sonic's eye, and he spun around just in time to see a wisp vanish into a stand of trees. He frowned, then shook off the odd feeling it gave him. He trusted his instincts, but right now, he had better things to worry about than a single stray wisp.


	3. Silver does damage control

Silver stood back a little from the main gathering, watching with a smile as everyone rejoiced in Sonic's return. Tails in particular darn near bowled him over when the hedgehog entered the room. Amy also went for a bear hug, Knuckles clapped him on the back before pulling him into a too tight squeeze (notably without any complaints from Sonic), and the rest offered slightly more restrained greetings. Only slightly though.

Knuckles eventually extracted himself from the crew and went to stand with Silver. "How's the kid?"

Silver took a slow, deep breath, letting it out as a heavy sigh. "He'll be fine. He's still out, but recovering. I left him in a spare room and had a couple of the rookies stand guard, so if he wakes up we'll know even if he has to run off."

"Good, good. And his... energy thing?"

"It's not really my area, so I can't say much, except it looks like he's recovering. His energy's a mess, but it's healing on its own."

A hint of tension faded from Knuckles' stance. "That's something. I'm still gonna smack the idiot when he wakes up though."

"I hear you. Just wait to see what condition he's in. We don't need you knocking him over again."

Knuckles huffed in mock offense. Silver smiled slightly before focusing on the main group again. "What do we tell Sonic? He was there when Gadget's control broke, he'll want to know something."

"No idea. You're the one who's keeping his secrets, I try not to talk about it." He shrugged. "Who knows, if we're lucky maybe Gadget will be awake in time to explain things himself."

"Awake and lucid. And considering this past few months, I don't think I'll rely on luck for much of anything."

Knuckles grunted and didn't say anything else. They fell into a tense silence, watching the others catch Sonic up on everything that happened while he was gone. Mostly the good parts, but from the way Sonic's smile flickered at times it was clear the subtext wasn't going unnoticed.

"We have to get back to work soon," Silver finally said, quiet enough that the others wouldn't hear.

Knuckles glanced at him, then nodded, visibly reluctant. "You're right. There's a lot left before we can take back our world for good." He took a breath and started forward, clapping his hands to get the group's attention. "Alright everyone, we have work to do!"

Almost everyone groaned in disappointment. Surprisingly, Sonic was one of the few who perked up at the suggestion, though he didn't move from Tails' side. "Anything I can get started on? I may be out of practice, but I'm as fast as ever. And I have six months of payback to get started on." He coupled the statement with one of his signature smirks and cracked his knuckles.

Looking close, Silver could see the cracks in his attitude, the places where his cheerful confidence didn't quite hide the desperate need to be out doing something. Like he couldn't stand to stay in one place too long.

He kept quiet. None of the rest of them were doing much better.

Knuckles hesitated for a split second before nodding. "Alright. But take someone with you, at least until we get a baseline. And maybe get a doctor to check you over."

Sonic's smile twitched. "Let's skip the doctor. And do you really think I need a babysitter?"

Knuckles subtly clenched his jaw. His voice remained neutral. "Nah, but having someone to catch you up on tactics can't hurt."

"It's a precaution," Silver cut in, seeing Sonic go tense, "and it's more for us than you. We're not doubting you, but after thinking you were dead for six months..." He trailed off, took a breath, and continued. "One or two missions, to make everyone feel better. And we'll send someone who can keep up. That okay?" Silver did his best not to look at Tails, hovering just behind Sonic. He wasn't sure he wanted to see the fox's face.

Sonic looked at him, still smiling, the expression frozen like he might bolt at any moment. The tension slowly left him as he sighed. "Yeah, okay. A couple missions then. Probably not smart to go alone anyway." The last part was quieter, like he wasn't really talking to the group.

A soldier ran in at that moment, making a beeline toward Silver. "Mister Silver, we've got a problem!"

Silver straightened when he recognized the recruit he'd stationed outside Gadget's room. "He's up?"

The recruit nodded and waved for Silver to follow, already dashing out again. "He woke up, but he started freaking out or something, I left Pate to watch while I got you cause we didn't know what to-"

"Just lead the way," Silver said, heading out after him. "I'll handle things." It occurred to him that he hadn't given the others any explanation for his abrupt exit, but they'd understand. Sometimes these things happened.

***

Silver closed the door quietly, leaving the room dark except the glow of his markings and the deep red of the emergency lights. Silver had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimness.

Gadget was sitting on the bed, curled into a ball and rocking furiously back and forth. One hand was tugging at his ear, the other tangled in his hair, eyes open but staring at nothing. He seemed to be mumbling something; all nonsense sounds, nothing Silver could use to figure out what was going on in his head.

Silver approached cautiously, settling on the bed as slow as he could. Gadget's head jerked up at the shift, eyes flashing in the dimness but empty of any real recognition. Tears pooled in the bottom of his glasses where they couldn't escape to run down his face.

Silver hesitated, then moved again, broadcasting his movements clearly as he reached up and took hold of Gadget's hand. The wolf flinched but didn't resist as Silver untangled his fingers from matted fur, then set the freed hand on his knee while he did the same with the other. That accomplished, he slid over and wrapped an arm around Gadget, pulling the wolf into his lap, again moving slowly and watching for any signs of discomfort.

There were none. Gadget let himself be moved before curling further against Silver's chest and burying his face in the mass of fluff there. He made a garbled sound, almost words but not quite.

Silver gently stroked his hair and rocked him a little. "Shhh, it's okay. You don't have to force it. Take a minute if it helps, or sign. I'll listen."

Gadget whimpered softly before pulling back, slow and reluctant. Silver loosened his grip to allow the motion and watched as he hesitantly raised his hands. "[I thought I got em all, but there were more... they blended in, I couldn't tell it wasn't me...]"

Silver frowned, trying to understand what he meant. "What wasn't you? Is this about the ruby?"

Gadget nodded, a few tears spilling over to dampen his cheeks. "[It - it whispers to me when I'm close. Cause it can't twist me like it did him. But I always watch for it, I can see it usually, it was just... opposite.]"

"Opposite?"

Gadget was silent and still for a long moment, cheek coming to rest on Silver's chest again. Silver raised a hand to start idly brushing over Gadget's hair again.

Finally, Gadget sighed and tilted his head back to meet Silver's eyes. "I just wanted to fix things."

And that one sentence, with everything Gadget had said and everything he hadn't but Silver still knew, was enough to make Silver wrap his arms tight around Gadget and hold him as close as he could. "It wasn't your fault," he whispered fiercely. He knew it wouldn't be enough, wouldn't convince him, but it needed to be said. "None of it is your fault. You aren't responsible for fixing everything, especially not alone."

Gadget didn't respond, in sign or otherwise, but he squirmed around enough to wrap his arms around Silver in turn.

They stayed like that for a long while.

***

The others were looking over a set of maps when Silver and Gadget emerged. Silver had an arm around Gadget's shoulders, which most of the crew would probably assume was Silver's usual touchiness toward the wolf and not the much needed support it actually was. They'd caused enough concern on the mission.

Knuckles looked up and immediately relaxed when he saw Gadget. He went right back to commander mode and waved them over. "Good to see you up and running. Maybe sleep a little more next time you sneak into a mission, huh?"

Gadget laughed, letting Silver subtly guide him to sit in a chair. "[Sorry commander, one time thing]," he signed with Silver translating for him. Sonic watched the exchange with an unreadable expression but didn't say anything.

"Better be. Anyway, do you have any idea where you'll be for the next week? With Sonic freed Egghead'll be upping his game, and we'd appreciate any help you can give.

Gadget hummed and reached into his pocket for a tablet of some sort, pulling up a map and pretending to study it while his eyes went vacant. After a moment, he tapped a couple points on the screen and showed the resulting circle to Silver. The hedgehog looked at it while Knuckles came over, frowning internally when he saw how close Infinite was lurking. Hopefully it was just because the jackal was still recovering from Gadget draining both of their energies. If he was lurking for other reasons...

He shook the thought off when Knuckles came up to look. The commander immediately brightened. "That's perfect. Hey kid, you're pretty fast right?"

Gadget blinked up at Knuckles, nodding slowly.

"Well," he said, with a growing grin, "Sonic's going to be raiding one of Eggman's factories tomorrow. You two up for a tag team?"

Sonic paused, glancing at Gadget with a curious look before nodding. "Works for me. You held your own on the Death Egg, and that's no small thing."

Gadget stared at him, surprise and unease slowly melting into excitement. He grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, then that's settled. The rest of you know your jobs for the next couple days. Great work team, get some rest."

"You're bunking with me again," Silver said when Gadget cast him a questioning look. "Unless that's a problem?"

Gadget shook his head, smiling almost bashfully. Silver grinned and ruffled his hair. "Okay then. Sonic, do you-?"

"I'm having a sleepover with Tails," he said, jerking his thumb toward where the fox was collecting his things. "We've still got a lot of catching up to do, y'know?"

Silver gave him an understanding smile and herded Gadget out of the room after the others. Once they were out in the hall and away from their main group, he scooped Gadget into his arms, grinning when the wolf yelped and clung to his shoulders.

"Hey, don't give me that look," Silver said to Gadget's betrayed expression. "I waited for the others to be away, and I don't want you on your feet more than necessary right now. Do you want to be functional for tomorrow's mission or not?"

Gadget sighed and settled into a more comfortable position.

"That's what I figured. Now come on, I think we all need some proper rest after a day like this."


	4. Gadget goes really fast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late, it's been a mental time this week. But hey, made it out eventually, and hopefully it's worth the wait.
> 
> Side note: this is the first double boost in this story, and I tried to make it clear how I imagine they work? Not the end of the world if it doesn't come across, but it's kinda sorta relevant in later boosts hence why I mention it.

The alarm went off far too early the next day. The obnoxious ringing was followed by a muffled groan before the offending noisemaker was surrounded by a teal glow and flung into the nearest wall. It bounced rather than shattering, the casing designed with its owner's abilities in mind. A moment later there was a more frustrated groan, and another teal spark hit the button to turn the alarm off.

Silver glared at the device and heaved a mighty sigh, going limp on his fluffy pillow stand-in again. Gadget snickered and patted his back, the action clumsy with sleep and the awkward angle but still heartfelt.

After another minute of resenting alarms in general, Silver folded his hands on Gadget's chest and rested his chin on them to face the wolf. "Morning. Am I still a good weighted blanket replacement?"

Gadget tapped his chin in a mock thoughtful gesture, then grinned and nodded.

"Good, cause you're still a good body pillow. But we should probably go get food."

Gadget closed his eyes for a moment before sitting up all at once, making Silver fall to one side with a startled sound. The hedgehog stared at him in shock for a second before bursting into laughter. Gadget grinned down at him and offered a few soundless chuckles of his own.

They eventually calmed down enough to get dressed and head for the cafeteria. Silver noticed Gadget's visible discomfort with the noisy environment and suggested they eat in the core team's break room. He looked surprised by the suggestion, but readily agreed.

"Hey Gadget?" Silver said as they walked down the hall. "You know you're one of us, right?"

Gadget gave him a confused look.

"Like. The rooms for our team are open to you. You might not be part of the resistance, but you're part of the team."

Gadget continued to look lost. Silver decided not to push for now and entered the room ahead of him, pausing to hold the door. "Oh, hey Sonic."

The hedgehog looked up and grinned, offering a cheery wave. "Hey. Good to see you again. Sleep well?"

"Better than usual."

Gadget nodded, made a so-so gesture, then mimed someone snoring.

Silver gaped at him. "Wh- I do not!"

Sonic sputtered out a laugh while trying not to choke on his drink.

Gadget giggled and settled at the table, starting in on his breakfast with fervor. Silver gave an exaggerated huff and sat down to do the same.

Sonic smiled for another moment before turning serious. "So while I have you alone, I wanted to ask about what happened yesterday. Now seemed like a good time since it looked like you don't want everyone to hear about it."

Gadget hesitated, glancing at Silver. Silver shrugged in return. "Your call. You don't have to share anything you don't want to."

There was another beat before Gadget dropped his eyes to his food. "I... I'm not ready to talk about it. Sorry."

"That's cool." Sonic flashed a grin when Gadget's head snapped up. "I mostly ask cause I don't want you getting hurt. But if you're not up to sharing, I'm not gonna push. Just let me know if I need to do anything and I'm good."

Gadget stared at him for another moment before looking at his food again. "Thank you."

Silver shot Sonic a grateful look. The blue hedgehog shrugged and leaned back in his chair, eyes falling closed in complete relaxation, even as a thread of tension never quite left his frame.

They finished their breakfast quietly, signing to each other in favor of speaking out loud, and only making noise when the time came to head out on their mission.

***

Sonic and Gadget stood at the top of a hill looking epic surveying the path ahead. Sonic stretched his arm overhead, sighing as some of the tension left his shoulders. "Welp. From what Tails said, it's pretty much a straight shot down this road. You ready, partner?"

Gadget blinked, looking vaguely unsettled for a moment before quickly switching to a confident grin and nodding.

"Alright, let's do this!"

Sonic took off, Gadget following a few steps behind. When they reached a chasm, Sonic skidded to a stop and grabbed Gadget's arm as the wolf shot his grappling hook and swung them both across the gap. They hit the ground running, Gadget falling back again to take advantage of the more aerodynamic hedgehog's slip stream.

They drifted around a corner - Gadget used his grappling hook to balance - and slid down a rail, always heading toward the pyramid in the distance. As they leapt a smaller gap, Gadget narrowed his eyes at something in the distance. "Sonic, grab on!"

Sonic grabbed his arm without question, letting Gadget grappling hook them up onto an Out of the way platform. He landed on his feet and followed Gadget's gaze to the path ahead, letting out a low whistle. "Wow. That's a lot of robots."

Gadget hummed an affirmative, one hand pressed to his chin in intense thought.

Sonic studied his expression for a moment before tucking his hands behind his head, expression relaxed. "Don't worry too much, we don't have to beat em all. Just have to make it through to the end."

"I know," Gadget said. "But..."

Several seconds passed before Sonic prompted him. "But?"

"They won't hurt me," he said. "They're all illusions. But that only helps me."

"Your connection to Infinite lets you tell when they're illusions?"

Gadget stiffened, eyes fixed on the middle distance. "My..."

Sonic winced and held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Shoot, sorry, said I wouldn't pry. I mean, I heard enough yesterday to know you have some weird energy thing, but. I'll stop talking now."

Through Sonic's frantic babbling, Gadget slowly relaxed until his stance was almost relaxed. "It's fine," he said, his voice softer than a moment before. "I'm just... not ready to talk about it."

"Yeah, cool! So! Illusion robots, won't help me, got it!" Sonic's awkward aggressive cheerfulness became more genuine as he continued. "That just means we'll have to try something else, and I've got a great idea!"

Gadget raised a brow, but took Sonic's hand when he offered it. "What were you-?"

"Hang on and keep moving, you'll see!"

Gadget still looked uncertain, but nodded and started running with Sonic, picking up speed as they dashed down the slope back to the path. And then they kept picking up speed, faster than Gadget had ever run, Sonic pulling ahead a little but never letting go of his hand, the place where they touched seeming to crackle with electricity, enough energy for him to keep going faster, faster, _faster_ , boosting right through all the sentries in their path, up the side of the pyramid, and straight into the gaping entrance pit.

Sonic whooped and Gadget yelped as they plunged down into the darkness. They dove between several sets of lasers before hitting the ground, Gadget using his grappling hook to slow his descent and marveling at Sonic simply landing on his feet. They exchanged a look and continued onward.

***

Sonic whooped as they watched the factory explode from a distance. (Not a safe distance, mind; Gadget could feel the heat of the fire from here. He wasn't complaining.) "That was epic! Great work partner!"

Gadget twitched, but his grin was genuine as he met Sonic's fistbump with enthusiasm. Not quite on par with Sonic's, but the hedgehog was hard to match in the energy department.

Sonic was still grinning as he retracted his fist, though there was a note of hesitance to it. "So I'm guessing you don't like that nickname, huh."

Gadget stared at him, completely thrown. "[Why?]"

"You've twitched every time I've called us partners. Yeah, exactly like that!" Sonic pointed at him triumphantly, then blinked and yanked his hand back to plant it on his hip a little too casually. "So, what's up? If you're worried I'm messing with you-"

"It's not that," Gadget blurted without thinking.

Sonic raised an expectant eyebrow and remained silent.

Gadget hesitated, taking a long moment to respond. He turned to stare off at the smoke still rising from the pyramid instead of meeting Sonic's eyes. "I... before everything... that's what _he_ used."

Sonic's forehead wrinkled in confusion for a minute before his eyes widened with realization, then fell as it really sunk in. He raised a hand as if to pat Gadget's shoulder before dropping it and just standing by his side, turning to stare at the pyramid with him.

"We'll end this war," Sonic said finally. No apology, no assurances that it would get easier. He couldn't promise that. But he could promise to fight until the end.

Gadget didn't look at him when he nodded.

All at once, he jerked around to stare in an entirely different direction, alarm and confusion visible in every bristling hair on his body.

Sonic had dropped into a fighting stance when Gadget moved, but relaxed when he realized there wasn't a visible threat. Slightly. "What happened?"

"I need to go," Gadget said, turning to give Sonic an apologetic look. He couldn't quite hide the trace of fear behind it, but he hoped Sonic wouldn't say anything.

Fortunately, luck seemed to be on his side this time around as Sonic just offered him a thumbs up. "Do what you gotta do bud. I think I can make it back to the base on my own."

Relief and gratitude washed through Gadget's mind. He gave Sonic a thankful smile before dashing toward the closest hill. This patch of desert didn't have enough targets for grappling, but he needed to go too far for just the hook anyway. Time to call in some friends.

***

Sonic flipped his com open the second Gadget was out of sight. "Mission complete, that factory won't be making more weapons anytime soon. Gadget had to split but we got out without a scratch. Has old Egghead gotten soft since last time we fought?"

"Glad you made it out safe," Knuckles said, sounding a bit miffed. "Just don't let your guard down. Eggman probably hasn't had a chance to up security yet, but you can bet he will be as soon as he finishes scrambling from the mess we made of his space egg."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, don't do anything that's gonna get me killed, I get it."

"That's-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Amy said, not sounding particularly sorry. "But we've got a problem. Silver went to Mystic Jungle to investigate some strange readings, but we lost contact with him a few minutes ago. From what we could gather, we're pretty sure it's Infinite's doing. We need to-"

Sonic didn't hear the rest. He turned the com off before she could finish and started toward the Mystic Jungle, anger at Infinite mixing with a stab of fear when he realized that was the same direction Gadget had gone.


	5. People think too much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings in the end notes, nothing huge but better safe than sorry.
> 
> There's several nods at headcanons in here,,, I didn't realize how many until I was proofreading. Also didn't realize that I never rewrote a whole dang scene so late again joy. I'm just going to go skim my next couple chapters right now because I could do without that sort of last minute realization.

In a clearing of stone, beside an abandoned base, two figures hovered in a charged faceoff. Silver didn't dare look away for a second, but Infinite's posture was as relaxed as ever as they slowly orbited the clearing.

The jackal chuckled low in his throat. "So we meet again, hero. You face power you cannot hope to match, yet still you struggle... commendable, if futile. I'd swat you from the sky to prove it, but I did promise that Gadget's friends could keep their lives."

Silver's hands tightened into fists. "Like you could stop me."

"Ha ha ha... Such baseless confidence. It makes me want to crush the hope right out of you!"

Silver spun neatly out of the path of Infinite's lunge before curling up, using the tension to spring after him.

The clearing shone with flashes of red and teal from the combatants darting through the air, leaving trails of light as they danced around each other. The fight was silent beyond the soft whooshing from their ever increasing speed, the occasional startled hiss when a blow grazed its target, and finally the sharp smack of a direct hit.

All the breath left Silver's lungs as he smacked against the wall, his powers cutting from the shock and leaving him to crash to the ground. His back ached with the force of the impact, and his leg burned like he'd stuck it in lava, but he somehow managed to stay conscious. He was barely aware enough through the shock and pain to register Infinite's voice.

"Well now, I did say I would make sure all of his friends would live, but you've been a real inconvenience lately... Perhaps I should remove you from the game as well."

Silver forced his eyes open enough to see Infinite twirling a few cubes around his fingers, mask tilted down toward him. He tried to make his voice work, but his lungs angrily protested their lack of oxygen and the words melted into a choked wheeze.

Infinite clenched his fist, the cubes vanishing. "Now that I think about it, that would work perfectly." He flew at Silver, turning sharply away when his path was suddenly filled with fire.

Both opponents jerked around to the source of the flames. Gadget stood at the edge of the clearing, a blast wispon extended with full confidence and his expression set in determination.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," Infinite said, his voice dark and echoing. "I always did appreciate your knack for making friends..."

In an instant, he had Gadget pinned against the rocks, holding the taller canine so his feet dangled an inch from the ground. He completely ignored the wolf's struggling as he continued speaking. "Though my reasons in the past were a bit different. Now hold still, this won't hurt, though it may - mph!"

The last comment was made due to it being very hard to finish your sentence when you've been kicked in the jaw, even with a mask absorbing some of the impact. It also made it very hard to keep your captive from squirming out of your hold, as Gadget immediately demonstrated.

Infinite growled, shooting up several feet into the air and adjusting his mask before glaring down at Sonic. "A regular party tonight, isn't it? Not that I invited the likes of you."

"Guess I'm someone's plus one," Sonic said, tone as cheerful as his hardened gaze wasn't. "Which is a big minus for you."

Infinite snorted, then glanced back at the sound of gravel crunching to see Silver slowly getting to his feet. On his other side, Gadget flipped the wispon to its lightning form, eyes never leaving Infinite while never quite meeting his gaze.

After a long moment, Infinite made a strange sound and waved his hand airily. "I'm not going to waste my time on you fools, especially right now. I hope you appreciate my generosity." His mask turned toward Gadget. "I'll be seeing some of you very soon indeed."

With those parting words, he was gone, leaving only a rapidly fading trail of light to show he'd ever been there.

There was a long pause as nobody knew quite what to do. The silence was interrupted by a startlingly loud "Fuck!"

Sonic and Silver both jerked to stare wide-eyed at Gadget. "Sweet mother of chaos I think that's the first time I've heard him swear," Silver managed before shaking off his surprise and moving toward Gadget, crying out when a stabbing pain shot up his leg.

At once he had Gadget on one side and Sonic on the other helping him to the ground. Gadget ghosted a hand above Silver's leg, not quite touching but assessing. Now that they were looking his foot was twisting at an unnatural angle. "Definitely broken," Gadget said, raising serious eyes to Sonic. "Can you get him somewhere safe?"

Sonic frowned, thinking it over. "Yeah, but we need to immobilize it first. I can't keep it from getting jostled and move fast too."

"Can you find some straight branches or-?"

"On it."

While Sonic dashed off in search of branches, Gadget dug a roll of bandages out of his pockets. A flash of cyan preceded the appearance of a laser wisp. "Taze!" Gadget snapped, more startled than angry.

Silver blinked at the wisp, absently rubbing his chest. "You had a wisp in your pocket."

The wisp in question chirped, flying around Silver in energetic circles that had the hedgehog's eyes spinning as he tried to keep up. Gadget sighed and snapped his fingers until Taze zipped up to bob at his shoulder. "Taze," he said, waving at the wisp. "He..." His voice trailed off, and he frowned, huffing silently. He switched to signing, but kept it slower and simpler than usual. "[He's a friend. Follows me, but out of sight. They stand out too much.]"

Silver nodded. His eyes fell to stare at his leg again. His brow furrowed in apparent confusion. "That doesn't look right."

Gadget nodded agreement, filing the question of how high the hedgehog's pain tolerance really was into the back of his mind for later. The few times he'd broken bones, both before the war and after...

He shook the thought away and took a few deep breaths to ground himself. Now was not the time. He had more important issues to deal with. And speaking of...

"[Sorry for getting you involved,]" Gadget signed, half hoping Silver wouldn't register the apology.

The hedgehog looked at his hands, then his face, blinking almost too slowly. "What's that mean?"

Well. Not like his luck had been great lately. Now he'd have to explain. "[Infinite... when he said he's going to take you out of the game... that's what he's trying to do with me. He might target you now. Just because you're my friend.]"

Silver frowned at him, trying to push himself more upright (even succeeding once Gadget helped) and poking a finger at his chest. "You stop that. I made myself a target when I joined the resistance, only thing that's changed is he probably won't kill me." He paused for a beat, then added, "Is that really why you don't make friends?"

Gadget froze, expression going blank. "[What?]"

"The whole not getting people targeted thing. Is that actually why you don't let people help you? Cause Infinite said it wasn't."

Gadget's free hand hovered in midair, his jaw hanging open. Silver's frown deepened, and he was just about to say something more when Sonic reappeared.

"Sorry that took so long," he said, sounding harried as he plopped down and set the sticks he'd gathered between them. "There's less straight branches than you'd think around here, and with keeping them from breaking... these should work though."

"[Perfect]," Gadget signed, then made a face and spelled it out.

Sonic's mouth formed a surprised 'o'. "Can't talk right now?" Nod. "Okay, point at what you need me to do then. Silver, you need a-?"

"Get me a handkerchief or let me get a glove off, I don't want to bite my tongue right now."

The next few minutes were unpleasant for everyone involved, but they managed to set up a decent emergency splint. Silver was even still conscious, though only barely and doubtless wishing he wasn't.

Sonic lifted the other hedgehog carefully and with a lot of help from Gadget. "I'll get him to the nearest base," he said, adjusting his grip to keep from jostling Silver's leg any more than he could avoid. "You can follow, if you need coords I'll send em."

Gadget hesitated for a long moment, then slowly shook his head. "[N-E-E-D G-O]," he spelled.

Sonic looked him up and down for a moment before nodding. "Okay. But shoot me a message if you need anything while Silver's still out of it."

Gadget nodded and waved as Sonic zipped off into the twilight. He lowered his hand slowly, still staring at the place where he'd vanished.

He jumped about a foot at an unexpected noise from his shoulder and jerked around to stare at the wisp. Taking a slow, deep breath, he signed, "[Sorry, you startled me.]"

Something occurred to him then. "[You were still there when Sonic showed up. Why didn't he say anything?]"

Taze made a noise and twisted in what Gadget had concluded was the wisp equivalent of a shrug. The wolf sighed. "[I guess there's no way you'd know, huh. Anyway, we'd better keep moving. Infinite's still in range but he won't be for long.]"

Taze crackled and zipped off into the shadows. Figuring he could handle things, Gadget focused on where he could currently sense Infinite and shot his grappling hook into the forest. Time to get moving again.

***

"It's not as bad as it could have been," the worker said, trying to give Sonic a reassuring smile. It would have worked better if not for the dark circles under her eyes, but most of the staff had those at this point. Too many injuries, not enough people with medical skills. "You got him here quickly, and the break was pretty clean, on top of his natural energies speeding things up. We'll get a cast on it and he should be good to go home, so long as he's careful of that and the rest of his injuries."

"Thanks," Sonic said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. She was just doing her job, he knew that, but he'd heard all this every time he ended up visiting the hospital. For himself or anyone else. The only thing he wanted to hear was that he could take Silver and get them both back to the main base.

She seemed to sense his mood and gave him a last nod, hurrying off to attend to her next job. The bay wasn't as crowded as some, being more or less in the middle of nowhere, but it still had plenty of work for the skeleton crew keeping things running.

He shook that thought away and turned to look at Silver. The other hedgehog had passed out sometime on the trip over, and he stayed that way through the examination. Turned out he'd broken a couple ribs as well as his leg. He'd almost snorted when he heard someone mutter that it was a miracle he hadn't gotten a concussion or thrown his spine out of alignment. Silver had too much chaos energy in him for anything that dangerous to stick around that long unless it killed him outright. Though it was a wonder he'd stayed conscious as long as he did if he'd been losing energy to that kind of injury.

He heaved a sigh and knelt on the floor, resting his arms and head on the bed. Not enough chairs in this place. Not enough anything really. It was sad, seeing how rough everything had gotten for everyone while he'd been imprisoned. And it made him mad. Eggman had really gone too far this time... but he wasn't sure what to think about Infinite.

He'd been angry at first. Ready to throw down as soon as he got the chance. Give Infinite the beating he'd dished out with some extra pissed off hedgehog on the side. But now? He wasn't so sure.

The first time he saw Infinite after his escape - the first time he'd seen the guy since his capture - was when he showed up to yell at Gadget for being reckless. That wasn't the act of a cold-blooded killer. That was someone who cared, someone who...

_Damn it Gadget, I already lost everything else. What am I supposed to do if I lose you too?_

Sonic sighed and shook his head. Confusing as it was, it didn't really matter what Infinite's motives were. He'd done countless horrible things. He had to pay for them. But after what he'd seen, he wasn't sure he could believe in the heartless killer narrative everyone told. Maybe he was just too nice, like Shadow always said.

Shadow... there was a thought. Tails had explained the deal with Shadow's absence, and Gadget's tip that Infinite's illusions were the ones wreaking havoc. But where was the real Shadow? Was he safe, hidden away somewhere? Or...

He groaned, flopping back to lay on the floor. This was getting him nowhere. No wonder he preferred to run off his energy instead of sit around waiting. But he wasn't about to leave Silver alone until they'd fixed him up and (ideally) he returned to consciousness. Until then, there was nothing to do but wait.

Heh. Six months of nothing but waiting, and now he couldn't stand to sit still for a couple hours. He forced a laugh, but it sounded too hollow, and he stopped just as quickly.

Maybe... maybe he could call Knuckles. See what was up at the main base, maybe update them on the situation over here. He hadn't been able to say more than that everyone was alive earlier, he could give a more thorough report now... yeah, that was a good idea. He pulled out his com and sent the call, waiting for it to go through, relaxing already at the grumpy voice on the other end. "Hey Knux, hope I didn't wake you. Just wanted to check in."

Knuckles huffed, though it lacked any real heat. "You did wake me, but whatever. Make it quick."

***

Gadget curled up on a ledge, looking out across the expanse of a lake. Infinite was moving a bit less, so it seemed as good a time as any to risk a rest. He needed to sleep sometime after all. More important, he needed to think on some things.

He near jumped out of his skin when a flash of red popped up in front of him, resolving into an excited burst wisp. "Shell!" he squeaked. His eyes widened further then narrowed when he noticed a hint of lime green peeking out from behind a tree. "Flow, I can see you."

A beat passed before a hover wisp peered around the tree, managing to look sheepish. Gadget sighed and held out an arm, the ghost of a smile twisting his mouth when the wisp perked up and zipped over to snuggle against him. He looked back at the burst wisp, sighing again when he saw that Taze had appeared at her side. "[This is not staying hidden at all]," he signed around the wisp in his lap.

Shell bounced a few times, chittering furiously. Taze rolled his eye before zipping up and pointedly settling in on a branch above Gadget's head.

Gadget looked down at Flow only to find them giving a particularly pleading puppy dog eye back. He hesitated for a long moment before deflating. "[Okay. But only tonight.]"

Flow crooned and rubbed against his arm, making him laugh softly as he resumed petting them. Shell bounced in victory a few times before zipping in to use his hair as a nest.

Gadget managed a small, wry smile at the wisps' antics. The smile faded again as he looked back out at the lake, one hand still idly petting Flow while his thoughts turned to the past.

No matter how much he needed it, sleep was a long time coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: broken bones and field treatment of same, some medical/injury listing but nothing descriptive.
> 
> Also Gadget swearing. I feel like there's some reason this requires a warning though I'm not sure what it is.


	6. Sonic takes offense

Sonic barely entered the base, still carrying Silver (awake but still in no shape to keep up with Sonic even flying) before Amy appeared and started dragging him toward the main meeting room. "Oh thank goodness we were just worrying we'd have to radio you. There's trouble at Sunset Heights, and Knuckles wants you to check it out personally."

"Infinite showed up again?" Sonic guessed, hurrying after her so he didn't drop Silver. The other hedgehog looked rather disgruntled by the arrangement, but didn't say anything, perhaps because he realized his other option was getting unceremoniously dropped.

Amy shook her head, motioning them inside. "No, it's - you'd better hear it from Knuckles or Tails, they've been reading the reports."

"And it's not good news," Tails called from his station in the corner. "Sightings of Shadow over Sunset Heights along with a whole lot of robots. Probably illusions, but that doesn't stop them from doing a lot of completely real damage."

Sonic's expression darkened. He set Silver down, waving Amy over to support him, and joined Knuckles at the main screen. "What's your take?"

"Same as him," Knuckles said in the tone he used when he was just barely restraining his urge to go punch a problem out of existence. "Knowing about Infinite's powers, we can bet that's an illusion. That doesn't help us clear the real Shadow's name when he keeps doing this."

"But why target Shadow?" Tails asked, somewhere between genuine confusion and deep thought. "He's not the most well liked, sure, but why does Infinite hate him to this degree? The rest of his illusions are either generic Eggman robots or enemies we've fought before. Shadow may have been an enemy once, but that was ages ago."

"It doesn't matter why," Knuckles said, a hint of that anger leaking out. "All that matters is that we're not going to stand by and let it happen. Sonic, I know you just got here, but-"

"You know I'm up for this," Sonic said before he could even finish the sentence. "Sunset Heights, you said?"

"Right. And step on it, we don't need that illusion clone doing any more damage."

"You got it big red." And with a deliberately casual salute, Sonic raced off, his cocky grin fading into an angry glare as he left the base. Whatever Infinite's plans, he was not going to let this stand.

***

The trip to Sunset Heights took no time at all, and the trip through it took even less even with destroying every Eggman robot he ran into. He had way too much rage in his system, and the cannon fodder made a great stress reliever.

In almost no time (but still way too long), he'd followed the radio reports to the source and skidded to a halt yards from Shadow.

Except it wasn't Shadow. One look at his eyes was enough to see that. There was no life, none of the fiery spirit that had kept him standing through everything the world threw at him. Those eyes were dull, blank, empty.

"I'd never mistake you for Shadow," Sonic informed the illusion, words curling with his snarl. "And we don't need an actual faker around."

The illusion's eyes fixed on him, and in an instant it was skating toward him, building speed as fast as the real Shadow. Sonic braced himself, ready for action, but froze when a second blur knocked the illusion aside.

His gaze darted to the fallen illusion - flickering with red cubes as its form broke down - and then to the identical hedgehog standing where it had been. Except not quite identical, cause when their eyes met Sonic saw all the fierce pride and energy they knew and loved.

A smile stretched over Sonic's face, as much out of relief as his usual cheer. "Good to see you again, faker." And this time the nickname had all the affectionate teasing it hadn't when addressed to the clone.

Shadow gave him a once over, his gaze lingering on the few bruises Sonic had already earned himself since getting back. He finally reached Sonic's face and stopped. "Same to you. This world isn't the same without its hero."

Sonic shrugged, folding his hands behind his neck. "Eh, it's got other heroes. None quite as great as yours truly, sure, but you all can pull at least some stuff without _whoa!_ " He jumped back just in time to avoid Shadow flicking his nose. "Ha ha, looks like you've gotten slow since we last faced off. Finally showing your age, gramps? Don't worry, I'll make sure to give you a head start next time we race so it's fair."

Shadow harrumphed, but there was a hint of a smile in his face and his face was soft when he spoke. "It's good to have you back."

Sonic felt himself melt a little at those words. His grin was probably all goofy now, but for the moment he didn't even care. "Good to be back. And good to see you again, small dark and brooding. Weren't you in hiding or something?"

At the question, Shadow's expression shifted to something... murky. "I was. Am. But I have important information to share, and felt it would be better to meet in person... with the side benefit that I get to destroy some of these illusion copies." He gave the last few fading squares a distasteful look.

Sonic hummed, also looking at the spot where the illusion had been. "Makes sense. But I have to ask... are you gonna come to the base with me? Cause you know me, my memory isn't the greatest with details."

Shadow grimaced, but his brow was set in a resolute line. He started walking and motioned Sonic to follow him. "It's a risk I'll have to take. I have too many details to convey via one person anyway. I'll just have to be inconspicuous and hope nobody mistakes me for one of those illusions." He paused suddenly, glancing sideways at Sonic. "Speaking of, how did you know? The only one I've met who could tell I was the real me could sense the illusions' energy."

Sonic wondered if that might have been Gadget, but decided to keep that to himself. He'd agreed not to pry, this might get into prying territory. Besides, he had a question to answer. "It's the eyes. Your eyes are bright and full of fire. The illusions' eyes are just... dull. Lifeless. It's like someone sucked all the energy out and then filled the husk with energy drinks."

Shadow's grimace deepened. "Thank you so much for that image."

"Welcome!" Sonic's exaggerated cheer faded a bit so he could get more serious. "Really though, it's been... I missed seeing you around. Getting the chance again... well, I'm glad you're gonna go to the base, cause I'm looking forward to catching up, you know?"

Shadow raised his head for a moment to meet Sonic's gaze, fire bright red eyes burning into startled green ones. "I feel the same way." He turned back to the path and kept on as if nothing had happened, leaving Sonic slightly frozen behind him. "Let's get moving, we should get to the base as soon as possible. This is time sensitive information."

Sonic shook off his paralysis to catch up with Shadow, the pair quickly picking up speed. "Well it's a good thing I'm an expert at fast."

Shadow shot him something that was almost a smirk. "Are you sure you're not too out of practice? I wouldn't want you to fall behind..."

"Oh, it's on."

***

The commotion when Shadow arrived wasn't as big as when Sonic reappeared, but it was close. From the dark hedgehog's expression, he hadn't expected nearly as much joy at his return as he was getting. Rouge's hug he took with good humor, and he exchanged a fist bump and meaningful look with Knuckles, but the rest of the group he didn't seem to know what to do with. Mostly he settled for extremely awkward looking hugs until the excitement died down enough for him to share his information.

Shadow pulled a small device out from his quills, holding it out to Tails. "If you could?"

Tails took the device and frowned at it for a moment before brightening and hurrying over to plug it into the console. Shortly after, the screens lit up with a display of...

"Metropolis," Shadow said over everyone's confused murmurs. "Eggman's capital city. I recently learned that most of his forces will be elsewhere from tomorrow until times unknown. He's working on something big, and while I don't like the sounds of that, we can and should take advantage of the distraction. Further, I acquired these maps that should help in at least the general layout of the city. I figured details on patrols, traps, and that kind of thing would be out of date too fast to be worth recording, but this should be enough to get some idea."

Knuckles nodded along, one hand tucked thoughtfully under his chin. "It sounds like a good idea for sure. We'll have to think this one through though. My first instinct is to rush in, but Eggman leaving his home base pretty much undefended..."

"Sounds too good to be true," Sonic agreed, already focused on memorizing the layout on the map. "But we won't get a better chance."

"One question," Tails said. "You said Eggman's forces will be away from the city. Does that include Infinite?"

Shadow frowned. "Infinite is... difficult to predict. The best we can do on that front is hope that he's busy with whatever project Eggman has in progress."

"We can do one better than that," Silver said. He shrank a little when everyone looked at him but kept going from there. "Gadget can figure out where he is, right? So we can at least get an idea of if he's close."

A few people shared looks and murmurs of agreement. Knuckles nodded decisively and clapped Silver on the shoulder. "Good thinking. I'll leave that to you. The rest of us should get to work planning maneuvers - I don't want to risk missing our chance cause we waited for confirmation."

Silver didn't wait for everyone to start planning before leaving the room and pulling his com out. He needed to check in with Gadget anyway after everything that happened lately. This was just an excuse to do it sooner.

Gadget picked up the call, much to his relief. "Hey, Gadge. We got intel that Eggman's troops are being moved from the capitol, but we need to know if Infinite's out as well. Any news?"

Gadget hummed softly, barely picked up by the phone. From the sound of things, wherever he was had an awful lot of wind in the background. "Not near there, for sure. Sneaking in?"

Silver half glanced back toward the door. "I don't know about sneaking, but we're going in there for sure."

There was a pause, followed by a rather intense huff. Silver blinked. "Uh... Gadget? Everything okay?"

"Infinite's been staying put lately," Gadget said, the undercurrent of frustration carrying clearly through the lines. "He shouldn't be there, but that means I can't be there either."

With that, Silver understood. He bowed his head for a moment before raising it with a determined cast to his features. "We'll take down some clones in your name, okay Gadget?"

The returning "thanks" was genuine enough, but still downcast. Silver winced, but there really wasn't anything he could do. In the end, the same thing that made their mission that much more possible kept Gadget from safely taking part. He at least appreciated the wolf resigning himself to the fact rather than sneaking in again. (Hopefully.)

"I'll tell you how it goes," Silver said after another moment. "Stay safe out there."

"You too. Bye."

"Bye."

Silver hung up, then spent several seconds just staring at the com, his ears drooping with frustration and regret. This was a good thing, this chance to finally strike a blow straight to the heart of Eggman's empire, especially with Sonic and Shadow on the team again. But with Gadget cut out, he couldn't be as happy as he should be.

"You look glum."

He jumped, staring in surprise at the blue hedgehog he could have sworn hadn't been there before. "S-Sonic! I didn't see- when did you get here?"

Sonic shrugged and spun to lean against the wall next to Silver before sliding down to the floor. "Not long ago, didn't overhear anything if that's what you're worried about. Aren'tcha gonna sit down?"

Silver slid down beside him, sitting a bit more awkwardly. "So... what's up if not that?"

"Well, for one thing, we haven't gotten to talk much since I got back. Thought it might be nice to catch up, you know?" Sonic smirked. "See if there's any new relationship gossip."

It took a moment for Silver to figure out what he was talking about. When it clicked, he gave Sonic a deadpan look. "Seriously? Me and Gadget are friends."

"Oh I know." Sonic laughed when Silver's face twisted in confusion. "Dude, you know me, I'm not exactly a romantic. But I like making friends, and I like seeing people make friends. And I missed out on your backstory, so how'd you two get to be friends?"

Silver hummed and looked down at his com again. "I'm not sure, really. Besides the stuff you've already heard from reports." (He decided to ignore the way Sonic averted his eyes.) "I guess when I heard about all the stuff that he's had to deal with alone, I started wanting to help him out more? And... the more I tried to look out for him, the more we talked, and the more we learned about each other. Which is probably how people make friends normally but I wouldn't know." He paused, noticing the little smile on Sonic's face. "What?"

"Nothing," Sonic said, still smiling. "I'm just happy you two can look out for each other."

Silver blinked, then smiled back, a little awkward.

Sonic stretched briefly before hopping to his feet. "And the sooner we end this war, the sooner we can fix things so he has it easier. Let's get to it!"

Silver's smile grew, and he followed Sonic back into the meeting room.

***

Gadget stared out across the plains from his perch in a dried up tree. He couldn't see Capital City from here, half a continent away, but he could pretend that somehow his mental cheers could get through to them.

 _I'm more helpful staying out of the way_ , he reminded himself, turning his gaze inward. _If I was there, Infinite could be there too. They don't need Infinite getting in their way._

There wasn't much sound on the plain. Not much to look at either. Occasionally a tree or two, otherwise just a sea of waving grasses as far as he could see. The breeze rustling the grass and sending it in shimmering ripples provided the only background noise. Behind him there was a little more sound, the sounds of leaves rustling where trees gathered, but here at the edge where trees thinned out there was nothing.

...He was bored. Which led to introspection, which led to overthinking, which he couldn't afford right now. He'd given the ruby enough openings already without adding more from a little boredom. Especially after the other day.

Heaving a great sigh, he closed his eyes and focused on Infinite. Maybe guessing what he was up to would give him something to do.

Infinite was apparently chilling again, not moving much from his current location. Perhaps resting? Not that he needed rest, not after the ruby's integration process, but he did seem to enjoy it once in a while...

Gadget narrowed his eyes as he noted a slight change in the energy between them. It was subtle, not anything he would have noticed had he been doing anything else, but... it was definitely there. A probe, he guessed, doing his best not to change his own energy in case his guess was correct. But what reason would Infinite have to probe him? The information he got was far less than what Gadget could obtain, so doing so was only useful if he planned to...

Gadget's eyes went wide as he realized, latching onto the branch just as Infinite zoomed away from his current location, breaking their distance limit and causing a stabbing pain to run through Gadget's chest. He managed to lock down the link before it could hit him too hard, but dang it he missed when he could recognize Infinite's intent to fast travel _before_ he zoomed across the planet.

He took a deep breath, gauging where Infinite had headed and preparing to whistle for the wisps. Then he froze halfway through jumping to the ground as he realized where he was looking. The same direction he'd been looking earlier.

Gadget grabbed his com, sending a message to his emergency link before whistling and getting moving as fast as he possibly could.

_Ga: Get out of there, Infinite incoming_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	7. Gadget takes action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't even try to figure out military unit terminology, just kinda picked random stuff. So if it's terribly off, that's why. Have fun!

The whole operation was a mess. All their strategy, all the care in targeting the most influential places first, shredded by the claws of the illusion wielding jackal.

Silver cursed under his breath as he continued to guide a team out of the shattered city. Infinite didn't seem to care how much of Eggman's capital was destroyed as long as he took out the Resistance with it. And so far, he was doing a good job - several units out of contact, two under heavy fire, and those few that remained retreating as quickly as they could manage. Gadget's warning had come in time to get some of them out before Infinite arrived, but the rest weren't so lucky.

He caught a pile of rubble before it could land on the soldiers, waving them on as he held it steady. Several of them were too young to be fighting in this sort of mess, he thought as frightened faces flashed by. Then again, he wasn't really in a position to judge.

Once the last soldier was clear, he tossed the rocks aside and shot ahead to keep opening a path out. Buildings streaked by, massive snakelike creatures hissed at them from above but seemed content to leave them be. Silver thanked his lucky stars for that one small mercy.

"This way, there's a tunnel!"

The whole crew whipped around at the yell, easily spotting the speaker amongst all the once pristine white and silver. Gadget waved again to make sure he had their attention, then pointed at an opening in one of the buildings. In his other hand he held some sort of holographic projector.

Silver rushed over, waving for the others to follow and landing at Gadget's side. "Hey. Sorry we couldn't meet again under better circumstances."

Gadget forced a smile and shook his head, then shoved the device at Silver. He blinked and took it. "What do you-?"

"[It's a map of the city,]" Gadget signed, almost faster than Silver could interpret. "[You can get more people out. The tunnels down there are a maze, but they're safer than up here.]"

Understanding dawned on Silver's face, but at the same time he frowned. "Don't you need this too?"

Gadget shook his head. His eyes narrowed at the sky, and he didn't quite look at Silver when he replied. "[I'm going to distract Infinite. I'm the only one who has any chance of keeping him busy for long enough.]"

Silver wanted to protest, but watching the crew file into the underground, realizing this was only a fraction of the people left to save, he took a deep breath and summoned a smile instead. "Okay. Make sure you make it out alive."

Gadget's smile was halfhearted, but still more real than Silver's. "[That much I can promise. Good luck.]"

He took off before Silver could respond. Still, the hedgehog murmured a quiet "You, too," before joining his team in the darkness.

***

Gadget whizzed through the streets, dodging debris and enemies alike. Most of the robots ignored him - lots of illusions, no surprise - and the huge, snakelike beings above barely so much as glanced at him before moving on. Not that his ruby-infused protection would keep him safe from being crushed, so he still took care to avoid straying too close to their... base? Root? What even were they - actually, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

One of the things looked down at him, blinking massive red eyes as he swung past. He blinked back at it for the time it took him to fly behind another building. He wondered if they ever recognized him.

The whimsical train of thought did nothing to keep him from thinking about the situation, so he sighed and stopped trying to force it. Whatever he did, Infinite was still out there, causing trouble in the name of the jackal he'd once known. And Gadget had made a promise to stop him, for both of them. He refused to let him down again.

Mind sharpened with determination, he forged on through the chaos toward the bright spot where Infinite's presence glowed like a beacon in his mind's eye. The noise of the field and the Resistance calling back and forth faded into the background as he zipped along, dashing along beams before they fell, skidding over pipes to reach further roads.

And then the bright spot moved, and his trajectory had him flying directly alongside Infinite, his startled gaze meeting the jackal's eye.

In the next moment, there was a flash of red, and Gadget just barely suppressed a shriek as he was suddenly falling _up_. He quickly regained his bearings and hopped over to a bit of road, running along the underside while keeping half an eye out for Infinite to reappear. He was nearby, the bond told him that much, but otherwise...

He couldn't restrain the shriek this time when the jackal appeared directly in front of him, only to glitch out and vanish. But of course, that wasn't actually him - the energy had been wrong, the ruby on his chest just as much an illusion as his body. But being caught in Infinite's illusion even loosely made it hard to determine where the real ruby was, the concentration of energy too scattered and diffuse to predict.

Another flash, and he leapt to the side of a building before he lost his grip on what was now a wall. The voices in his headset had gotten less frantic, meaning his attempt to distract Infinite had been successful, but how long could he keep it up if Infinite was just toying with him?

Still... Infinite couldn't keep this up forever either. His energy wasn't limitless, and more importantly there were limits to how much power he could use in a short amount of time. To cause so much chaos in such a short time, he must have employed some complex illusions. So while he could absolutely keep this up long enough to drive the Resistance away, he shouldn't be able to outlast Gadget's hiding techniques.

Then again, he thought with a sigh as a familiar red glow appeared above him just before gravity warped again, that didn't mean he _couldn't_ be found. Though he wasn't sure if Infinite had actually found him, or was trying to stall in much the same way he himself was. Either way, it was getting old fast.

And as if in answer to his frustration, his gravity had returned to normal. He took advantage of the moment to skate along a pipe, building up just enough momentum to leap across a myriad-inflicted gap in the road.

For a moment, he got a clear read on Infinite - far enough that he could afford to let his focus slip for a second. He tuned back into the Resistance's communications, taking in the words as well as the tone.

"Badger Squad clear, heading for the extraction point now!" An unfamiliar voice.

"Alright, teams still in the city, status report." Knuckles, most likely.

"Unit 5 on our way out now, ETA fifteen minutes." And there was Silver.

Gadget tuned out the rest of the conversation, his focus turning to the road ahead of him. More specifically, to the dark figure on one side of the road.

He approached without bothering to muffle his footsteps, knowing he'd already been spotted by now. Infinite didn't look back, focused on the city below. "Look at them," he said. "More ants to crush. I wonder if this world can offer me a real challenge."

He turned then, his mask flashing in the sunlight. "And we both know you won't be that challenge. I recommend surrendering now... I don't want to hurt you, but I will if that's what it takes."

Gadget tensed, sensing an odd edge to that tone. Infinite had always kept at the threats, always warning him to give up and let things be easier, yet stopping short of real harm. Not once had Infinite seriously hurt him. Not on purpose. (A flash of memory: a dangerously deep gash on his back after a misplaced dodge, the pure horror pulsing through their bond, Infinite tracking him down later to 'heal' him with the ruby before vanishing without a word.) But this... he sounded like he might actually have something in mind beyond empty threats.

Not that it changed anything. In the end, whatever happened, Gadget was going to protect his friends - past and present both. He flipped his wispon to lightning mode and glared at Infinite.

The jackal sighed, floating up off the road. "I see. If that's how it's going to be... then so be it."

He dove at Gadget without another word of warning, red light flashing as Gadget jumped clear just barely before being struck. He didn't take time to recover, just started moving, shooting a thread of lightning toward Infinite even as he hopped on a rail and started sliding.

The shriek he heard made him wince, but at least it was more startled than hurt. It wasn't like Infinite couldn't heal his injuries whenever he wanted... maybe if he kept saying that he'd stop feeling guilty. Maybe pigs would sprout wings as a bonus.

Infinite caught up in mere moments, seeding the path with illusion traps. Gadget ducked and wove around each and every one even when he was forced to slow his pace. Even one hit could be his downfall with Infinite's current mood.

A dark chuckle was all the warning he got, but still enough for him to be dangling from the pipes before whips of red slashed across the platform. Then he was on his feet and running again. He wove through a tangle of half-melted support beams, making a sharp turn at the left and shooting another whip at Infinite when he followed. The jackal yelled in shock, then dove after Gadget even faster than the last time.

Gadget made his own startled sound, rolling aside and hissing when his arm scraped over something sharp. He didn't pause to check the damage; it still moved, he'd deal with anything else later. He was up and running before the pain finished registering.

He barely made it five steps before tripping, his foot snagging on something and throwing him to his knees. The flash of energy behind him had him flipping over, wispon raised to press directly against the phantom ruby.

They froze for a long second, Gadget's hand not so much as twitching, Infinite motionless but little tension in his pose. "Well?" he said eventually. "Will you do it?"

Gadget's fingers tightened on the grip. His lips pressed in a thin line, that one fang he'd never quite grown into digging in just shy of drawing blood. The ruby's energy crackled in his mind but he barely noticed.

Infinite sighed, crossing his arms loosely without blocking the wispon. "We don't have all day, you know. And I think we both already know the answer." His eyes flashed. "You won't do it. Because as much as you like to pretend, you know that I'm still Zero."

Gadget's hand shook. He squeezed a finger, pressing down the slightest bit on the trigger... then dropped the wispon into his lap. He glared down at the line of cubes still tangled around his ankle. He might be able to get away still if he used some of his gimmicks, but Infinite probably knew most of them by now...

"Before you start plotting," Infinite said, cutting into his thoughts. "I have a proposition for you."

Gadget blinked at him, startled and unsettled by the strangely civil interaction. He slowly nodded for Infinite to go on.

"You come with me peacefully, and I let those Resistance fools live another day."

Gadget's blood turned to ice. He opened his mouth, then closed it, already knowing he was in no state to speak. He looked at the line of cubes again, then his wispon, mind racing as he scrambled for some sort of mental clarity.

Infinite sighed and shifted a bit, only mild annoyance in his voice. As if Gadget was simply taking too long choosing what he wanted for lunch. "Come on now, it's a simple question. Are you coming or not?"

***

Silver watched the last squad dash out of the city before activating his com. "Unit 5 clear."

"Alright, that's everyone," Knuckles said, his voice heavy with anger and frustration but still strong. "Get to the extraction point, we'll regroup and make new plans once you're back."

Silver gave an affirmative, but paused when a flicker of color caught his eye. A wisp - some shade of red, hard to tell at that distance, but it was enough to remind him. "Anyone heard from Gadget?"

The sudden silence was answer enough. He muted himself long enough to curse emphatically before reconnecting. "Last we heard, he was playing distraction for Infinite, right? I'm checking in now."

He left the line open, but muted himself and sent a separate call to Gadget. "Come on, come on, come on..." he muttered as seconds ticked by without a response.

There was the soft click of a connection being made, and Silver's heart skipped a beat. "Gadget? You there?"

Another couple seconds passed before a familiar voice came through the com, tired but surprisingly calm. "I'm here."

Relief flooded Silver's body, even as some part of him felt that tone was... off. "Good to hear. You okay? We were out of contact for a while there."

There was another pause, this time longer. The bad feeling grew. "Gadget?"

"Hey Silver," Gadget said, "thanks for being my friend. I don't think I realized just how badly I needed to not be alone anymore, even if I don't deserve it."

"Gadget, what's going on? Where are you?" Silver forced himself to keep an eye on his group even as he ran mental maps - he could reach most of the city in only minutes if he pushed, but-

Gadget laughed, only slightly choked, and Silver could perfectly picture his expression in that moment - smiling even as tears collected in his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll survive. I did promise. And... I believe in you. All of you. You're going to end this war." The sound of a slow, deep breath clouded the line with static for a second. "Good luck."

And the line went dead.


	8. The Resistance regroups

Knuckles paced back and forth across the front of the room, a low growl sounding from his throat. The rest of the leadership team watched in silence that was almost as loud as the echidna's footsteps. Nobody quite dared say anything with Knuckles this worked up.

Silver watched him pace with a blank stare. A part of him wanted to step in, knew he was one of the crew's emotional problem solvers, but he couldn't muster up the energy. He'd barely even started processing things himself.

The scrape of a chair dragged everyone's attention to Shadow as he stood. He crossed the room with a few short strides and rested a hand on Knuckles' shoulder that was immediately batted aside.

"Don't," Knuckles growled, his eyes flashing fire at the silent hedgehog. "This whole mission was a disaster, we've lost a lot of good people, our operations are in shambles, why the hell should I calm down?!"

Shadow's face remained placid through Knuckles' shouting. He waited until the echidna paused for breath to cut in. "Because we need to salvage what's left before we can grieve."

Their gazes locked, Shadow's face calm and Knuckles' twisted with rage. The seconds ticked by like hours as the room held their breath.

Knuckles moved suddenly, spinning and punching a file cabinet with a yell. The metal crumpled like paper under his anger. Knuckles' chest heaved as he stood there, fist still buried deep in the casing. Shadow watched in silence.

"He's right," Sonic said, his normally cheerful voice now more tired than anything. "We need to regroup before Eggman makes another move. And we need a plan."

A too long moment passed before Knuckles pulled his fist free with a crunch. "You of all people think we need a plan, huh?"

Sonic shrugged, mustering a crooked smile. "Hey, run really fast and smash things is a great plan. Easy to remember." His smile faded, expression going serious. "But... if we want any chance against Infinite, we have to find a weakness."

"But how?" Amy asked, expression laced with concern. "With his powers, he's basically invincible. He can just decide not to have any weaknesses, and he won't."

"Unless Eggman made one," Sonic said, sitting up a little straighter. "He's had a lot of betrayals over the years. Maybe he did something in case Infinite turned on him."

A low murmur broke out over the room. "It's possible," Tails said, already pulling out a handheld and tapping at the screen. "Not the most likely, considering he's never tried before, but if there's any chance-"

"Then we might be able to defeat Infinite," Knuckles said, eyes lit with something more than anger now. "Silver, do you-"

He cut himself short, face twisting with regret, and Silver knew exactly what he'd been about to ask. He started speaking before Knuckles could get too deep into berating himself. "Gadget never mentioned anything like that. He has said Eggman did some complicated stuff to integrate the ruby, though, so... it's possible."

"Alright," Knuckles said, back to his his commander voice. "Tails, analyze whatever information you can get from Eggman's bases. Shadow, Sonic, and Silver, you're in charge of getting our outposts any help they need while raiding nearby bases for more data in between. Don't get caught, your safety is more important than data. The rest of us will organize our main forces and start tallying what we've got to work with. Let's move!"

Everyone mustered up the energy to cheer, even though none of them really felt it. It was one thing they could still do.

***

Silver slipped away as soon as he could, finding an empty bit of hallway and plopping on the floor against a wall. He closed his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath. He had work to do, and he would do it. He just... needed a minute. Just a minute, a little time to build up the facade of a functional sapient. There wasn't time for more than that.

His eyes flickered up when someone dropped down next to him. Sonic offered a half smile. He held up a granola bar and a bottle, waving them at eye level. "Thought you could use a snack."

Silver stared uncomprehendingly at the items for a minute before taking the water, opening it and raising it to his lips. It was half gone when he put it down to unwrap the granola bar. "Thanks," he said, before taking a bite.

Sonic hummed and leaned back a little too carefully. "You can take a day to rest, you know. Nobody would blame you."

Silver finished the granola bar and stared at the wrapper, splitting the plastic further to examine the shiny inside. "I can't. It's not like I'm the only one who lost something. And there's too much to do, especially now." He paused, going silent for a few seconds before continuing. "Besides... if I stop moving now, I won't be able to start again for a while."

Sonic turned to face the opposite wall, eyes slipping closed. "We'll get him back. Once we win this war, we'll get him back."

Silver didn't respond.

***

Silver smashed a dozen robots with some rocks, the satisfying crunch easing a little of the tension coiled in his gut. The local branch had recently seen an increase in robot activity that put them at risk of discovery, which meant they needed some help taking out the trash.

As far as he was concerned, this worked out perfectly. With most of the locals hidden away, he could focus on channeling his frustration outward instead of inward, harnessing that energy for something better than berating himself for _everything he should have done, could have done different-_

He threw the next batch of robots harder than strictly necessary into a solid brick wall and hovered for a moment, panting from exertion.

"I'm surprised to see you out here."

Silver whirled around, already snagging some rocks for ammunition and half curled into a defensive ball. Infinite raised his hands palm out in surrender. With how relaxed his posture was otherwise, it came across as more mocking than placating. "I don't have any reason to start a fight today."

Silver narrowed his eyes. "Funny thing to say after everything you've done so far."

"Perhaps. But there's no reason to waste my energy so close to the end." He continued before Silver could question what that was supposed to mean. "In any case, you didn't take too long to get over losing your friend, did you?"

Silver growled, the vibrations carrying over in the edge of his words. "What, cause I'm out here fighting instead of in a dark room somewhere moping? Gadget wouldn't want that. He'd want us to keep fighting even if he can't be with us." Silver noticed tears gathering in his eyes and forced them back. He wasn't going to cry in front of Infinite. "He'd want us to keep going and win, with or without him." He turned and flew away at top speed without waiting for Infinite to reply. Maybe catching him off guard would make it actually possible to get away before he pulled some illusion trickery.

No such luck, of course, as a red flash blinded Silver for a split second and the world tilted on its axis. Only a lifetime of practicing sudden stops kept him from flying straight into the ground and giving himself another concussion.

Gravity returned to normal, but before Silver could move to flee, Infinite appeared right in his path. "Going somewhere?"

Silver hissed a curse and drew back, reconsidering his options. There weren't very many.

Infinite gave a derisive snort. "You can't escape me that easily, hedgehog. Especially not with that leg. Why are you even out here like that?"

Silver winced, turning slightly sideways like it would somehow hide the injury Infinite had already noticed. He'd convinced their medical people that he was good to go with a spot of telekinesis, and nobody who knew better had called him out, but the truth was even the slew of healing speed ups he had could mend a broken leg completely in only a couple days. In the air it didn't hamper him too much, but it would be all too easy to injure himself worse if he got in a serious altercation.

Rather than letting those thoughts show, he tensed his muscles in preparation for whatever Infinite did next.

Infinite looked him up and down. His posture remained relaxed. "I told you I don't have a reason to start a fight."

Silver didn't relax. "So you chased me around for fun?"

That finally got Infinite to tense ever so slightly. And with that stupid mask, Silver couldn't guess what he was thinking. He braced himself in case the reaction was explosive.

"Fun isn't the term I'd use," Infinite said after a too long pause. "But my goals are beyond you, so I won't try to make you understand."

Silver growled low in his throat. "You mean the goals that cause nothing but destruction? Do you even regret any of it?"

Infinite scoffed, extending his hands as if to encompass the world around them. "I'm more powerful than anyone could ever imagine, much less hope to stand against. What could I have to regret?"

Silver's hand balled into a fist at his side. "What about all the lives you've ruined? The people who lost homes and family because of your need for destruction?" He blinked, and the tears he'd managed to hold back until then finally overflowed. "What about kidnapping my friend to protect him from the danger _you_ created in the first place?!"

Infinite jerked back, but Silver didn't wait to see what he had to say. He tightened his fist and, in a moment of impulse, swung at Infinite with a fierce cry and all the power he could muster.

Infinite caught his hand in one palm, twisting him around and catching him in an arm lock. "Enough," he said as Silver fought his hold. "I've wasted too much time already."

Silver's struggling slowed at the words. Infinite's voice was... he couldn't quite place it, but something...

A blue streak zipped right between them, missing Silver by barely a centimeter but smacking Infinite full in the face and knocking him back. Silver barely managed to regain his balance before a second streak hit Infinite, this one red and slightly slower.

Infinite stumbled backward, one hand pressed to his mask where one of the streaks had hit him. Somehow it hadn't been knocked off despite the impacts. Not that it seemed to protect Infinite from disorientation. "What in the name of-" he hissed, before the blue streak reappeared and resolved itself into a laser wisp.

Silver blinked at the alien hovering in front of him, poised facing Infinite like a guard. It turned for a split second to glance at Silver before refocusing on Infinite.

Something clicked, a foggy memory that shouldn't have been enough to be sure but somehow he just _knew_. "You're the wisp Gadget had in his pocket in the forest."

The wisp looked at him again, bobbing in a wispish nod.

A burst wisp appeared (that must have been the red streak), bouncing beside the other and glaring at Infinite. It babbled something in its native language while twisting in a series of odd motions.

Infinite flinched back, one hand still pressed to the side of his head. "That - that's not - I _tried_ , damn it, but what else am I supposed to do? There's only one day left until-"

He cut himself off, but not quite fast enough. Silver's brow furrowed. "One day until what?"

Infinite stared at him for a long moment before floating up off the ground, never quite breaking eye contact. "If you have any last wishes, I recommend fulfilling them soon. Farewell, silver one." And he flew away, leaving Silver alone with two wisps.

Or three wisps, he corrected, noting that a hover wisp had joined them at some point. "Thanks for the help," he said, smiling a little awkwardly when they chirped various replies. "Uh... sorry, I don't actually know your language. We can probably find someone with a translator now that Infinite's gone, though..."

Silver's voice trailed off when the hover wisp floated up to him, brushing against his cheek briefly. He blinked and touched his fingers to the spot, half surprised to feel dampness seep into his gloves.

He quickly wiped the remaining tears away and hopped to his feet, careful not to favor his good leg too obviously as he did. "I need to check in with the locals anyway, you're welcome to come along."

He could have sworn the laser and burst wisps exchanged a Look before flying on ahead, while their third remained by his shoulder. Silver blinked, sighed, and flew off in pursuit. "Chaos, I need a nap..."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late. I'll probably be missing Wednesday this week, possibly after that too. Not the best of timing, but I'd rather have to slow down at a critical time than put forth subpar work.
> 
> That being said, thanks so much for all the support I've been getting. I couldn't have kept at this fic so well without it.
> 
> Edit: sorry for skipping a week without warning, hopefully I'll get a chapter up this next weekend but at the moment no promises.

Knuckles stared at Silver, brow deeply furrowed. "One day left? What under the stars is that supposed to mean?"

Silver shrugged helplessly. He'd used up most of his energy just relaying the information. It hadn't gone unnoticed, either; the hover wisp was resting on his head and became suspiciously heavy whenever he tried to stand up. The other two had found corners of the room to rest, keeping surprisingly still and quiet for the energy they'd displayed to that point.

"Well, it sure doesn't sound good... Tails, what's the status on your search?"

Tails glanced up from his computer, fingers still flying over the keys. "Nothing we can use. I did find something strange, but I need to speak with Shadow and Silver before I can tell if it means anything."

"Check in after the meeting. We need as much as you can get ASAP." Knuckles paused, eyeing the wisp on Silver's head. "So what's with your entourage? You said they were aggressive toward Infinite, but why'd he recognize them? And why'd they stick with you?"

The wisp bounced a little before chirping out a sentence. Silver glanced down at the translator sitting on the table in front of him. "Flow says it's because..." He paused, gathering himself before continuing. "Because they were helping Gadget, when he let them, and they know that... we're his friends. And they want to help get him back."

Sonic raised a brow. "Huh. I saw a laser wisp with him that once, but didn't know the little guy was _with_ him."

"That's Taze," Silver said as Flow spoke. "And the burst wisp is Shell. They... stayed out of sight to keep from making Gadget more recognizable?" He glanced up, and Flow gave an affirmative bounce. "Explains why they don't like Infinite much." Though not why Infinite had cared about their opinions. He hadn't listened to Silver, he hadn't even listened to _Gadget_ , so why would he get defensive with these wisps? It didn't make sense.

He did his best to focus on the meeting, but his mind was elsewhere. For every thing he knew about Infinite and his connections to Gadget, it seemed like there was another dozen he could only guess at. He wondered if he'd ever get a chance to hear the answers from the jackal himself.

"Then it comes down to one question," Knuckles was saying when he tuned back in. "Do we keep going like we've been doing and hope for the best, or do we at least go out with a bang?"

"You already know my answer," Sonic said with entirely inappropriate good cheer. "If we're going down, then I'm going down running."

Around the room, the rest of the group exchanged looks before murmuring words of agreement, some more enthusiastic than others. Knuckles looked around at them and heaved a great sigh, not even trying to disguise his relief. "Alright. I'll go talk to the troops, they deserve the option to back out now before it's too late. Meet back here in fifteen minutes."

Shadow stood smoothly and followed behind him. Knuckles glanced at the hedgehog, but didn't say anything.

A few of the others trailed out of the room a moment later, off to do who knows what. Silver watched them go without much emotion. He debated going after them, remembering the laundry he'd left on the floor in his room, but... it was such a dumb little thing to spend energy on when he couldn't get that much right now anyway. And that was assuming Flow would even let him move.

He looked over at Tails, busily tapping at his keyboard with a focus that a cannon couldn't shake. Sonic had a chair pulled up beside him to peer at the monitor, shoulders just barely brushing. The rest had slipped out while he wasn't looking.

Silver looked around for another moment before standing (Flow didn't stop him) and heading for his room to deal with his laundry.

***

Knuckles stood on a platform, looking out at what remained of their troops. They'd never been a huge force, but compared to the force he'd seen when he gave his address before Capitol City...

He shook off the thought. They couldn't do anything about what happened. But they could keep going for the brave people they'd lost.

Shadow and Rouge stood behind him, just out of sight. They had his back. He drew what comfort he could from that.

"We're heading for Eggman's fortress," he called, his voice echoing through the chamber. He continued speaking, silencing the crowd's murmurs as they started. "We got intel saying Eggman's got something big planned. Something that he believes will wipe us out for good. And it's coming tomorrow."

The room was quiet as he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"You've all done a lot," he said, a little of the weight he was feeling seeping into his voice. "You've sacrificed so much to protect this world. So you deserve the truth: anyone who goes in tomorrow, is probably not coming back out."

His gaze skimmed across the crowd, meeting as many eyes as he could. "That's why I'm giving every one of you the choice. Walk away now, and nobody will think less of you. Leave and live to fight another day. We'll take all the help we can get. But I'm not going to anyone you to fight a hopeless battle."

There was a long silence as the very air seemed to hold its breath. Knuckles let his eyes close, energy spent. He'd give them a few minutes to think. Maybe some of them would even make the smart choice.

A hand on his shoulder startled him into opening his eyes. Rouge smiled despite the tears brimming in her eyes and nodded sideways toward the crowd. He turned to look.

Every face he saw was looking back with determination. Some were nervous, or filled with sorrow, but no matter how hard he looked he couldn't see a shred of uncertainty.

Knuckles stared out at the crowd, something welling up in his throat. _These heroic idiots,_ he thought, at the same time thinking of his friends back in the meeting room. "Alright," he called, a little more sturdy than he'd started out. "Then go pack your things and get some sleep. We leave early tomorrow."

Through the rallying cheer, Knuckles silently hoped some of them would rethink and leave before tomorrow. But a part of him was grateful for the unwavering support. It made him feel like there might be some hope left after all.

***

Knuckles stood to the side, eyes trailing over his troops as they cleared out of the cargo transports. They'd taken the hulking vehicles as far as they could without risking detection; from here on, they'd be using lighter transportation. Which meant bikes and extreme gear for most, with the remainder relying on their own feet or wings (or in Silver's case a spot of telekinesis). Each of the vehicles had a small device that would generate a jamming field, providing one more layer of stealth.

Their precautions wouldn't stop the enemy from seeing them once they were in eyeshot. But every bit counted.

"So," Sonic said, almost startling Knuckles into punching him. From the smirk he was wearing, he knew it too. "Need a lift over? The Sonic Express hasn't been booked yet."

It took a minute for that to sink in. His face heated up, and he repressed the urge to splutter by substituting a growl. "Not a chance, you - I'm the commander, that's not dignified or even safe!"

Sonic was cackling by now, and Knuckles cut his protests short. He narrowed his eyes as Sonic's laughter continued. "Oh, very funny. Get in position, wise guy, we're moving soon."

"Alright, alright." Sonic wiped away a last tear of mirth before walking away, tossing a careless wave back over his shoulder. "Take care of yourself, knucklehead."

The echidna frowned, then shook his head and turned away. They had a battle to fight.

He pinged his squad leaders, confirming everyone was done gearing up, before straightening and pointing at the distant gleam of metal towers. "Resistance, move out!"

***

Atop a metal spire stood a lone figure, looking out over the surrounding wastes. His posture was relaxed, almost disinterested, despite the dust he could make out rising in the distance.

Infinite hummed thoughtfully as he watched the army approach. An onlooker would have been hard pressed to find any cracks in his unruffled calm. Yet... he was only watching. For now.

A faint crackle sounded from wherever his com is, Eggman's voice . "Infinite, where are you? I need you on the front lines now!"

Infinite's shoulders lifted then slumped in a silent, long-suffering sigh. "As you command, doctor. I'll be there as soon as I finish the tasks we agreed on."

"Yes, yes, very well, just make it quick. I want those resistance fools destroyed!"

The connection blipped out. Infinite looked out at the wastes once more before vanishing.

***

The group started splitting as they got close, the main forces separating into three units while a few pairs and trios darted away on their own. The smaller teams would infiltrate the city and cause what chaos they could while the squadrons continued, prepared to face the enemy head on.

Sonic gave his friends a jaunty salute before peeling off, only glancing up once to make sure Silver was following. The kid could keep up without him babysitting. The wisps following him, he wasn't so sure about, but if they got lost they'd probably handle themselves.

He couldn't get sidetracked. He needed to stay focused. If this was their last stand, Eggman was coming down with them. He didn't let himself consider any other possibility.

***

The wisps hadn't said anything for a while. Not to each other, or in the motions resembling a modified MSL alphabet (Silver tried not to think about how they'd learned that). He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. It might make stealth easier, but Shell in particular hadn't stopped chattering once except to sleep. Until now.

Not that Silver had the time to worry about it too much. He was supposed to be watching out for potential weak points while Sonic cleared the way. He needed to stay on track.

Though, if Infinite happened to show up by chance, he might take that chance to land a hit on the jackal's face. It might well be the last thing he did, but it'd be a satisfying few seconds.

For now... he had a job to do. And he was going to do it.

***

A roar echoed across the plains. Ahead of them, Infinite's army of illusions approached, far more numerous than their ragtag crew. More than a few resistance members hesitated as the size of Eggman's army finally began to sink in.

Knuckles didn't flinch as he sped up, meeting the first enemy with a roar and a punch that threw the clone into three more behind it. The whole mess dissolved into cubes before they hit the ground.

A moment of deafening silence. Then the resistance surged forward to meet their opponents, their battle cry echoing across the plain.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but not without reason. Have fun!

The road was straight for a moment, then turned, twisting sharply down and around the side of a building before ending abruptly. Sonic didn't even slow down as he snagged a bit of bent pipe, leapt from the edge, and latched on to a hanging wire with his makeshift handle. Any robots in his path were crushed or knocked aside by his slipstream before they could even think of attacking.

Silver followed his zigzagging with slightly less acrobatics. He didn't miss Sonic's uncharacteristic silence, but it wasn't the best situation to bring it up in. So far, they'd managed to bug and/or destroy three important looking terminals, and from the reports that occasionally rang in his ear, their main force was holding their own. They needed to hold that streak.

***

Amy bashed another clone with her hammer, using it like a baseball bat to knock it toward Shadow. The dark hedgehog followed up with a swift blow that scattered it to fading cubes before moving to a new target.

Nearby, a trio of resistance fighters zipped around on extreme gear, luring several clones close together before zipping away so a fourth could toss a grenade into the swarm, scattering every one of them. They shared a high five before moving on to their next targets.

All over the battlefield, resistance fighters were collecting themselves and pulling out all their favorite tricks. The clones had as much power as their originals, but it was quickly becoming apparent that they hadn't received their brains as well. For one thing, none of them seemed to understand teamwork. For another, they weren't learning from their comrades' mistakes. It was beginning to look like they might have a chance after all.

There was a brilliant red flash above the battlefield, followed by a blast that knocked every resistance member in a twenty meter radius off their feet. When the light dimmed, the field went still, frozen beneath Infinite's scornful glare.

He didn't say a word as he gathered energy, more clones forming behind him. Those fighters that were still standing pulled their neighbors up and backed away, the previous glow of victory all but gone.

Infinite tilted his head, still eerily silent as he watched them. With a wave of his hand, Eggman's army began their counterattack.

***

Silver stood guard while Sonic smashed a terminal, watching for enemies trying to sneak up on them. The clones were busy with the rest of their forces, but Eggman's robots still patrolled the streets. It was like he didn't even care enough to use his full forces against them. Or maybe he'd expected more of them to make it into the base. Not that it mattered either way.

The communications echoing through Silver's earpiece stuttered, someone's voice cut off by a familiar warping noise. He sucked in a breath, barely noticing Sonic freezing in his peripherals. That sound could only mean-

Knuckles' voice sounded over the line. "Everyone, cover your teammates! Fall back, but maintain formations! We're not about to give up just because Infinite finally showed his face!"

The rumble of Infinite's voice was just barely audible before the connection clicked off. Then there was quiet for several long seconds. The coms had barely been quiet for a moment before.

Silver took a deep breath, then turned to face Sonic. "We need to keep going."

Every muscle in Sonic's body was wire tense, and for a long moment Silver wasn't sure Sonic was actually seeing him. Then, slowly, he nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

He leaned down, fingers brushing the ground in a running stance as Silver readied himself to follow.

"Well, now, what have we here?"

They both sprung into defensive stances, whirling to face toward Eggman. How they'd missed him when he was in that oversized eggmobile was anyone's guess, but there he was, chuckling in a way that really shouldn't have been menacing.

Maybe in other battles it wasn't. Right now, the sound made something clench in Silver's stomach.

Eggman glanced at the destroyed terminal, no sign of concern or frustration on his face. Just mild amusement, visible in the tilt of his brow and faint quirk of a smile. It wasn't a nice smile. "Property damage? Shocking, seeing once great heroes resort to petty vandalism. If you needed a proper opponent, you could have just said so."

He pressed a button, a mic producing itself from some compartment. "Infinite! To my position, now!"

Silver darted a glance at Sonic, meaning to check if his partner maybe had some sort of plan. But Sonic wasn't looking at him. His eyes were fixed on Eggman, lips curled down the smallest bit, every muscle in his body quivering with tension.

Silver's brow furrowed, both in confusion and concern. But he didn't have time to figure out what was going on with the usually perma-positive hero before a swoosh and warping sound announced Infinite's arrival.

Eggman jabbed a finger at the two hedgehogs. "Infinite, do it!"

Infinite's shoulders shifted toward his ears. Barely enough to see, but still there. "Doctor, you are aware-"

"Did I ask for advice?" Eggman asked, his voice still strangely calm. "Or have you forgotten who gave you this power?"

Infinite was still for a moment before his mask shifted, pointed at the hedgehogs. Silver wasn't sure if he was imagining things, or if Infinite was looking directly at him. "No. I haven't forgotten."

He raised a hand, projecting a sphere of... something. It emitted purple light, but the center was so dark it almost seemed like...

Eggman chuckled. "Let me introduce you to null space. A closed off space where absolutely nothing exists." He began floating away, giving a last casual wave to the pair. "Goodbye, my soon to be eradicated nemesis. Enjoy all the nothing."

Infinite looked at the sphere, then - he was definitely looking at Silver, what -

Silver didn't have time to think on that further before Infinite shot a red spark into the sphere and shot off into the distance.

The sphere expanded rapidly, engulfing a space big enough to consume a small house. With the expansion came suction, random loose objects flying into the void.

Sonic gritted his teeth and braced his feet firmly, rubber soles squeaking against the metal for a moment before he was sucked off his feet with a startled yell. Silver held on for a moment longer, focusing every last drop of his energy on resisting the suction, before he slipped and fell into nothing.

Falling wasn't what it felt like, though - or it was like falling every way at once, being pulled and pushed in every direction simultaneously til he couldn't tell which way was up or if he was still in one piece or -

He hit something soft when gravity finally reset, earning a pained yelp. He groaned and gave himself a couple seconds to recover before rolling off his unplanned landing pad. His everything was still too sore to force his eyes open. "Sorry, Sonic," he mumbled, figuring he could at least offer that much.

"Silver?"

Exhaustion vanished and his eyes shot open when a familiar but unexpected voice said his name. " _Gadget?_ "


	11. Chapter 11

Knuckles had barely a second to wipe the sweat from his brow before catching a punch aimed at his head and flipping the Zavok clone over his head, smashing it down with enough force to crack the ground. He turned away as it faded, pulling his com out. "Amy, what's the status on our infiltrators?"

"Not great," she said. "Two of the teams are still on track, one is just barely keeping ahead of the robots, and the rest are out of contact." She rattled off the team names, stumbling ever so slightly when she listed Sonic and Silver's pair.

Knuckles' grip tightened until the plastic creaked. His voice was almost steady when he spoke. "Alright. Send any updates pronto."

He ran through the rest of the check ins in moments, nobody with anything new to add. Just more of the same bad news.

Check complete, he whirled to punch an approaching clone so hard it flew over the heads of everyone in the area. He huffed a breath before turning toward a flash of red light.

A growl rumbled low in his throat as he spotted Infinite hovering, looking down at some other part of the battlefield. His first instinct was to run over, take a flying leap and punch him right in that ridiculous mask.

But the resistance needed him here. Providing a steady base of command and sometimes backup to keep them going just that little longer. And for that, they needed him to keep a cool head.

Reluctant, but determined, he forced himself to turn away and aim his gaze at a cluster of soldiers in need of backup.

There wasn't time to think, but he gave himself a split second to hope that whatever happened, the missing soldiers were still alive.

***

Sonic scratched his nose, eyes trailing across the distant nothing. There wasn't much of anything to look at, just a scattering of cubes swirling in and out of sight in the nothing, but he studied it with the focused eyes of someone who expected a pop quiz later. A particularly large cube faded into sight, phasing through several others instead of knocking them aside. It grew for a while, then faded away again over several seconds.

Finally, Sonic sighed and glanced sidelong at the others. "Not to break up a good hug, but-"

Silver jerked upright, half releasing Gadget from his hold but not really letting go. Just as well, considering the wolf hadn't moved beyond blinking dazedly at Sonic. "Right, you're right," Silver said, the faintest flush on his cheeks but no sign of it in his voice. His eyes slid back to Gadget, almost apologetic. "We'll, catch up more later. So, uh. What's the plan?"

Gadget shook himself and pulled out of Silver's hold, hand lingering on his arm a split second longer than strictly necessary before he rolled to his feet. He raised his hands, paused, and sighed. "Why are you here?"

Silver hopped up too and put on a serious business face. "Infinite sent us here. He had some sort of... black hole, I guess? Whatever it was, we got sucked in."

Gadget frowned, brows scrunching in confusion. "[That doesn't make sense,]" he signed, looking not quite at either of them. "[He wouldn't send anyone here, the risk is too high.]"

"I got maybe half of that," Sonic said, "but Infinite wasn't too happy about tossing us in here. Egghead had to yell at him before he'd listen."

That only made Gadget's face scrunch up more. Then his jaw went slack, eyes widening slightly before snapping back to the others. "[Tell me exactly what happened.]"

Silver blinked, exchanging confused looks with Sonic, but decided to go with it. Gadget probably had a good reason. "Eggman found us in the city and called Infinite, ordering him to do something. Infinite didn't want to, but Eggman said something about giving Infinite his power. Then he..." Silver paused, frowning. "He looked at me, for some reason. And said he hadn't forgotten. Then he did the black hole thing, and here we are."

Gadget made a soft sound, but it went unnoticed behind Sonic's low whistle. "More than I can remember. Have you been taking spying lessons from Rouge?"

Silver rolled his eyes. "Hardly. You were just too busy vibrating with anger to see past Eggman's ridiculous mustache. And we should probably talk about that, but not now," he added before Sonic could more than bristle defensively. He blinked as something occurred to him. "Wait, what about the wisps?"

Sonic looked around like they'd suddenly materialize, even doing a full spin in place. "Huh. Must've gotten away before that thing sucked us in."

"[Wisps?]"

"Your friends," Silver clarified, seeing Gadget's hopeful expression. "They wanted to help rescue you. Though, I guess now we all need some rescuing," he said as his eyes scanned the vast nothing around them.

Gadget brightened, diving for a small pile of papers Silver had somehow missed despite being the only thing here besides them. The wolf dug through the stack, yanking a sheet out and passing it to Silver.

The telekinetic blinked as he scanned the well-worn page, half aware that Gadget had snagged another sheet and was gesturing at it as he spoke to Sonic. "This is..." Silver murmured, eyes darting across cramped text and scrawled diagrams that managed to be just barely legible. But he didn't need to read much to catch the point. It was one part of-

"A way out," Sonic finished, grinning bright. "Gadge, you are a _genius_."

Gadget ducked his head and managed a bashful smile. "Thanks. So... ready to go?"

"Heck yes," Sonic said, already bouncing with energy.

"Wait," Silver said suddenly. "Why were _you_ here?"

Gadget didn't pause in collecting his papers. "Doesn't matter."

Sonic checked his enthusiasm, brow furrowing slightly. "Actually, that's a good question. Wasn't Infinite obsessed with your safety? This place-"

"Is much safer than a battlefield," Gadget said, his tone becoming noticeably clipped. "Temporary measures. Can we stay focused?"

Silver glanced at Sonic, who shrugged. Well, fine. He could prioritize. That didn't mean he'd forget about this later. "Then let's get moving."

Gadget relaxed minutely. He finished gathering his papers and hesitated. That's when Silver finally registered the lack of his usual belt and pockets.

Sonic made the connection at the same time and held a hand out. "I'll take em, my quills are pretty good for storing stuff even at high speed."

The wolf nodded, letting him tuck the papers away before taking Sonic's hand. Silver took the other and braced himself.

Then Sonic started running, speeding up slower than he would on his own. Silver automatically switched to flying, making it that much easier to respond as chaos began radiating from where Sonic's hand clutched his own, and their speed picked up faster and faster until what little scenery there was blurred and Sonic laughed in startled delight when a different energy crackled through them from Gadget's end until-

Silver's eyes squeezed shut as blinding light erupted around them, dying down in time for him to open them and land on a nearby pipe, sliding down it like a stair rail. He heard Sonic whooping and Gadget's voiceless laughter as they landed and began sliding just behind him.

"It worked!" Sonic yelled, just audible over the wind. His eyes were still glowing with extra energy; Silver suspected his were too. "We're back!"

Silver grinned right back with euphoric delight. "We did, it did!"

"Silver!" Gadget called, the single word all Silver needed to get the message in that moment. He leapt into the air, out of Sonic's path, and scooped Gadget into his arms before catching up.

"Contact the others!" Sonic yelled, hopping off the pipe and using some nearby robots as a bridge to a new platform. "We'd better report in before they worry too much!"

Silver called a confirmation before tuning in to his earpiece. "Silver and Sonic reporting in."

Several voices called down the line before Knuckles took over. "Silver! What happened, you two just up and disappeared!"

"Nothing happened," Sonic said, dry as dust. "Literally."

Silver cut in before they could derail further. "We'll explain later. Status?"

"Not great, Infinite's still wreaking havoc out here. If you have any ideas, now's the time to share."

"I do," Gadget said, soft enough that Silver wondered if he'd meant to be heard.

The deafening silence in the speakers said he had been.

"Is that-?" someone asked, voice too uneven to make out whose.

"Hey everyone," Gadget said, stronger but already a little wobbly from use. "I'm back."

"Good to have you back, kid," Knuckles said. "We can celebrate later though. What's your plan?"

Gadget hesitated, eyeing Silver uncertainly. "I need-"

Silver's flight path and Gadget's sentence were both cut off by three colorful blurs, materializing in a familiar trio of wisps. Sonic skidded to a stop on a roof nearby and watched with a small smile as Gadget yelped, then laughed, wrapping an arm awkwardly around the aliens. He hopped down to the same roof as soon as Silver let him, signing rapidly at them.

"Gadget's wisps showed up," Silver said before anyone could ask.

Gadget looked up, eyes suspiciously bright but expression set firmly. "They found my stuff. I'll need that."

Silver nodded. "I'll help. Sonic, head for the field, they need the hands there more."

Sonic looked between them for a moment, then nodded resolutely. "Okay. Good luck out there." And he vanished in a flash.

Silver scooped Gadget up again, waited for the wisps to fall into formation, and flew off at top speed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Just for anyone who's actively following, I may not be able to get a chapter up next Saturday. I've been working with partially prewritten content til now, but this is my last ready-except-edits chapter. I know where the story's going, it's just a matter of writing it, but I want to make sure yall know just in case.
> 
> Anyway... uh... Gadget? Please breathe. Please.

The moment Sonic reached the battlefield, he made a beeline for Infinite. He stood out clearly with the glowing and hovering menacingly above everything.

"Hey Infinite," he called, skidding to a halt in front of the villain. "Long time no see. Did you miss me?"

Infinite's head tilted. He paused a beat too long before replying. "Why yes, I did. I've been looking forward to finishing you and your annoying friends!" The jackal curled up, then threw his hands out with a shockwave that knocked everyone nearby off their feet. Sonic's sneakers dug into the ground, barely keeping enough traction to hold him in place.

"I trust you're ready for oblivion?" Infinite asked, his voice darkly mocking. "If you're not... oh well."

He tilted his head as an energy blast shot by, followed by more that forced him to dodge and even deflect one beam. The smallest curl of smoke rose from his glove, but he neither seemed to notice nor care. His only outward response was brushing the fingers of his non-smoking hand over the phantom ruby.

At the other end of the shooting, a familiar robot landed and adjusted his arsenal. "Target reconfirmed. Extermination initiated. Payback inevitable."

Amid the rising murmurs, Rouge landed near them and planted her hands on her hips with a fangy grin. "Finally joining us, Omega? About time."

Infinite continued to gaze at Omega, almost like he wasn't sure what to make of this development. Then he shook himself all at once and scoffed. "Is there no end to these insects? I will burn your resistance to ashes... and you along with it!"

With those words, he grunted and shot a glowing ball into the sky, where it burst into a planet-sized ball of fire. He vanished into the distance as the resistance stared at the sky in shock.

"Whoa," Knuckles managed. "You've got to be kidding. That's just a special effect, right?"

Tails was already shaking his head. "No, it's not. While we're under the phantom ruby's control, it's a part of our reality!"

"Unbelievable," Espio said as alarmed murmurs picked up around them. "What chance do we have against _that_?"

The eggmobile shot out to hover above them, Eggman's gloating broadcast for the whole battlefield to hear. "The sun will fall upon you all. Boom! The end! Your pathetic lives are over." Eggman looked down, his eyes immediately picking out a familiar blue foe. "Sonic, I see you made it back. Just in time to be burnt to a crisp!" The ship darted away once more, still broadcasting Eggman's laughter.

Sonic gritted his teeth, eyes spitting sparks after the villain. Maybe if he could just-

"I'd hardly call that a sun," someone said, breaking through Sonic's raging thoughts. He blinked, looking up in time to see Silver and Gadget land not far from him, followed by Gadget's wisps. "It doesn't even have its own gravity," Gadget continued, waving at the fiery doom above with an irritated frown. "And we should already be burnt to a crisp just standing this close."

"Never mind that," Silver said, cutting Gadget off before he could really get going on his science-fueled rant. "I'm more worried that the phantom ruby can do this at all."

Gadget's eyes narrowed further. "It can't."

Sonic and Silver both stared at him. Sonic pointed up. "Um, evidence says otherwise."

"That's not - never mind." Gadget touched his wrist, readying the grappling hook. "I can fix this."

Silver put a hand on his shoulder before he could shoot off. "I'm coming too."

Gadget paused, eyes full of regret when they met Silver's. "You can't."

"But-"

"He's right," Sonic said. They both looked at him. "Call it intuition. Besides... you need to do this part alone for yourself, too, right bud?"

Gadget was silent for a long moment before nodding.

Silver looked between them a few times, visibly torn. He deflated all at once and waved Gadget on. "Then go. There's no time to argue."

Gadget nodded, turning away. He hesitated briefly before spinning back, hugging Silver, and grappling away before anyone responded.

Sonic took a few slow steps toward Silver, resting a hand on his shoulder. "He's tough. He'll make it."

"I know," Silver murmured, eyes still fixed on where Gadget had vanished. "That's what I'm afraid of."

***

Shoot, swing, shoot, swing. No time to think, just reflex and action guiding him ever closer to the beacon of power that was Infinite.

As Gadget continued through the metal city, everything faded into the background. The sounds of everyone yelling in his headpiece (he probably should have shut that back off), Eggman's mad cackling, even the robotic guards became an automatic shot from his blaster. He barely even noticed the wisps still keeping pace with him. His thoughts were elsewhere, darting through memories, lingering on one of the last things Zero had said to him before returning to Eggman.

_"If this goes wrong, stop me. You're the only one left who can."_

Gadget's eyes narrowed further. He hadn't stopped him when Infinite first emerged, but he would do it now. He had to. He knew _how_ to do it now.

He just had to reach Infinite.

The path he was running on ended, and he leapt the gap, shooting his wire at the next flying robot he saw and using his momentum to swing higher. He'd need a lot more height if he wanted any hope of reaching the spot where Infinite hovered, a barely visible dark spot against the flaming sky.

Shell shrieked a demand. Gadget didn't bother arguing, just pulled his wispon out and let her dive into it. Normally he refused to risk the potential side effects of letting her power the modified weapon, but these were special circumstances.

_(Shouldn't hurt anyone else to fix your own mistakes but no choice, no choice so don't think just keep moving-)_

His eyes darted a few seconds to calculate before making his shot and letting the flames carry him higher, up and up as many times as he'd risk before landing on a new platform and helping the burst wisp into one of his pockets. He didn't have time to do more than a quick check, confirming she didn't look more disoriented than usual before continuing on.

Reaching the central tower, he leapt up and kicked off the walls to reach the next platform and allowed himself a second to breathe, but waved Taze off when he chirped a question. He'd be in worse shape than Shell if he borrowed power from them directly, and he needed to be as close to full capacity as possible if he wanted to pull this off.

Then he was off again, shooting across another platform and running along one last stretch. He didn't even glance back at the sound of a laser close behind him, just squeezed that last little bit of speed from his aching legs and shot his grappling hook straight into the star above.

It caught (on what, he didn't question), and he yanked himself up with sights locked on his goal.

Infinite spun around, eyes going wide behind the mask as he jerked back - just a hair too slow. Gadget's fingers brushed the ruby, and that was enough.

The sun flared brighter for a split second before vanishing.

***

A cheer ran through the resistance as they realized what happened, everyone's confusion pushed aside by the sheer relief of the narrow escape. The sun was gone, no sign of what could have happened save a streak of red falling from the sky, but they didn't need answers. They just knew they weren't dead after all.

Silver released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, a wide grin sweeping away the anxiety of moments before. "It worked. He-"

The hedgehog paused, finally noticing the empty space next to him. "Sonic?"

***

Sonic reached the place he'd seen the light fall just in time to see Gadget take off into the air. He quickly caught up with the wolf, spotting Infinite ahead of them a moment later. "Hey," he called. "Thought I'd see how you're doing out here."

Gadget's eyes met his for a moment. Sonic almost tripped, startled by the intensity of that gaze. "I need to get in range of the ruby."

Sonic shook off his surprise, focusing back on the present. "Cool. What's in range?"

"Not sure. Small."

"So, close enough to touch."

Gadget nodded, focusing ahead.

"Gotcha. Come on, buddy, we can still end this!"

Gadget's expression sharpened further. "Right."

Infinite glanced back at that moment and spun to face them without slowing his flight. Energy gathered in his hands before flying at them in swirls of red cubes.

Sonic smirked, leaping at walls and over gaps to dodge the illusion energy. In his peripheral he saw Gadget doing the same. "Nice try, Infinite! That all you got?"

The villain didn't respond, merely summoned a ring of smaller robots. Sonic frowned at the lack of banter, glancing over at his companion. "What's with him?"

"He's fighting," Gadget said without taking his eyes off Infinite.

Sonic began to point out that so were they, then stopped. He'd only get unclear answers until Gadget wasn't one-track focused on Infinite. "Okay. Got a plan?"

"Nope." With that, Gadget shot his hook at one of the robots, using it to yank himself toward Infinite. Sonic winced when Infinite dodged to the side and Gadget hit a wall instead. Fortunately, the wolf didn't seem more than dazed when Sonic helped him up, already off and running the next instant.

"So, maybe we should come up with a plan?" Sonic suggested, part of him boggling that _he_ was the one to suggest it. Again.

Gadget glanced at him, keeping to the ground instead of taking off on the grappling hook again. It slowed them down, but at least made it clear he was listening. "Okay. Any ideas?"

Sonic's response turned to a warning yell midway as Infinite flung the remaining robots at them. He leapt and catapulted off the first one, dodging the rest smoothly and falling back into a run. Gadget reappeared beside him a moment later.

"Just one," Sonic said, as if they hadn't been interrupted. He held out his hand in invitation.

Gadget looked at him blankly. A dawning smile began spreading across his face, the first hint of his usual energy Sonic had seen this whole time. He reached out and grabbed Sonic's hand. "Let's go."

Sonic grinned right back, already letting energy fill them both so Gadget could keep up. Their pace increased until their legs blurred, Infinite rapidly going from a speck in the distance to being right in front of them as they leapt off the ground and slammed into him head on with a ferocious yell.

Infinite was flung back, hitting the ground hard enough to knock his mask off as Sonic and Gadget landed more gracefully. Not softer, but Sonic was used to the impact and skidding, and Gadget hardly seemed to care. He barely stumbled before dashing toward Infinite. The jackal had begun pushing himself up, but before he could get further Gadget shoved him over onto his back and slammed both hands down on the ruby.

Infinite jerked once, hard, then cried out and latched on to Gadget's forearms as the ruby began sparking and flashing with deep red light. Gadget winced, one eye squeezing shut as he continued to press down with all the strength his trembling arms could muster.

Sonic took a step forward before flinging a hand over his eyes as the light got too bright to bear. When the light began to fade, he blinked the worst of the spots away and looked back at the pair in front of him.

Gadget was panting like he'd run a marathon, staring down at the jackal, still pinned beneath him and breathing just as hard. Their eyes remained locked for a long moment before Gadget's arms collapsed.

Sonic jerked forward, stopping when a pair of dark arms came up to cradle Gadget gingerly, like their owner was waiting to be scolded. The grip tightened when Gadget made a choked sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"You idiot," came a deep voice, familiar and yet so different from the modulation of the mask. "You complete self-sacrificing moron."

Gadget made the sound again, finally forcing himself somewhat upright to smile through teary eyes at the mismatched pair in front of him. "Welcome back, Zero."

The jackal's face was almost soft as he leaned forward to press their foreheads together. He murmured something soft that got another almost laugh out of Gadget.

Sonic scanned the area around them as an excuse to give them a little privacy, only to whip back around at a strange choking sound.

Zero's face twisted in something not quite pained, definitely scared, visual tearing running through his body as if he was glitching. He grabbed at Gadget's wrist, clutching it like a lifeline as he met the wolf's eyes for one last moment. Then, with an animalistic shriek, he vanished. The only sign he'd been there was a red light already disappearing into the distance.

Gadget knelt, eyes wide and unseeing, for two long seconds. In the next, he shot up and after that light without a backward glance. Sonic cursed under his breath and ran after him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check the end notes for warnings, most are pretty mild but I'd rather be safe especially with some of the mental things that have been happening. 
> 
> I'm sorry everything's been so late these days, and the whole skipping a few weeks. Mental health and life in general have been a bear to deal with. And with summer ending, I'll probably continue to be spotty with updates, but I'm trying my best. I want to get this done and published as close to my intended schedule as possible.
> 
> That said, hope you enjoy this. I may have redone multiple parts multiple times because it didn't feel angsty enough. I think it's pretty good at this point. :)

It took more of Sonic's focus than he'd expect to keep up with Gadget. That wolf was _fast_ , which wouldn't cause trouble for someone like Sonic if Gadget would _stop turning without warning_. This place was practically a maze, with all the twisting paths, random outcroppings, and sudden dead ends. He didn't want to find out how hard it'd be to find Gadget if he lost sight of him.

Tails' voice crackled out from Sonic's wrist communicator. "Guys, something's up. The ruby's signal is moving underground. Anyone have eyes on Infinite?"

Sonic hissed under his breath and managed to activate his end of the com without looking. "Me and Gadget are on the scene. We took Infinite out, kinda, but something weird happened and he vanished. I think Gadget's following the ruby and I'm following him."

"You think?"

"He took off without saying anything, what else would he be going for? I'll explain more later, gotta focus now." He clicked his end off, keeping an ear out for other news but giving most of his focus to his immediate surroundings.

They'd entered the central tower while he'd been talking, and Gadget was headed straight for the massive shaft in the middle. He didn't miss a beat before diving into the hole.

Sonic put on an extra burst of speed to run down the wall of the shaft, just barely keeping traction on the nearly vertical surface as he caught up. "Hey buddy, I know you're in a rush but I bet we'd get through here faster if we work together."

Gadget's eyes flickered toward him for a moment, something sparking in them. His brow furrowed, and he nodded agreement.

Sonic grabbed his hand pulled him along as they hit a slightly more reasonable incline, waiting until Gadget had his feet under him to let go and focus on the path again. He eyed the twisting metal and energy fast approaching and yelled to Gadget over the rising crackle of machinery. "Stay in my slipstream until we're past these traps!"

Gadget fell back without a word, and Sonic assumed he'd heard. He could only tell the wolf was keeping up by the feeling of someone behind him, but that would have to be enough. Looking back to check was a luxury they couldn't afford.

He sidestepped between spikes and lasers, mowing down any robots in his way to clear a path. More sidestepping, more lasers and spikes, then suddenly there were ramps and no more path and then they were almost floating in midair.

Gadget grabbed him before they could even begin to fall. He shot his hook at something Sonic couldn't see and swung them to grind down some sort of pipes. Sonic's eyes just happened to fall on the sparks beneath their feet. He barely had time to grab Gadget and jump them both to another pipe before the one they were on started spewing electricity.

Sonic wrinkled his nose, feeling the static in his quills and knowing that he'd probably be smelling singed fur when they slowed down. But that was a problem for later.

The pipe ended and Gadget grabbed Sonic again, swinging them both past the last stretch of wall and onto a ring-shaped platform in a large, circular room. Several capsules sat at intervals along the platform, and a starkly artificial glow emanated from below in the center of the ring.

After the sensory chaos on the way in, going to near nothing but the gentle hum of energy was jarring. Even the traps above were muffled.

Gadget released Sonic to take a couple steps toward the center, stopping just before Sonic decided to yank him away from the edge. He stared at the light with an intensity that made Sonic uneasy, eyes darting around as if he was looking at something past its glow.

"Gadget?" Sonic asked, wariness increasing as he didn't get an answer. He reached out to place a cautious hand on Gadget's shoulder, frowning when he was shrugged away. "Talk to me, buddy," he said, then caught himself. "Or sign, that's fine too. Just. It, uh, can't be great for your eyes, looking at something that bright. Maybe you should stop?"

The comment didn't get so much as an ear twitch in response. Gadget continued scanning the depths, eyes a little wider, mouth shaping soundless words. One hand was squeezing the opposite wrist so tight that Sonic imagined he could hear the bones creak.

Sonic's com went off, presenting a (welcome? Ill-timed? Whichever) distraction from the situation. "Sonic, do you read me?"

He answered the com, not looking away from Gadget. "Loud and clear, Tails."

"Looks like you reached the reactor. Most of Eggman's power seems to come from there. If Infinite's out, and Eggman's power supply gets cut off..."

A slow smirk spread across Sonic's face. "Then all that's left is taking out the trash."

"Yep. But be careful, Sonic. The energy readings I'm seeing - that place is unstable already. Once you break enough stuff to finish destabilizing it, get out of there - you do not want to be caught in that collapse."

"Gotcha," Sonic said, eyes landing on one of the capsules. Then back to Gadget, whose 'search' seemed to have stopped. He frowned. "Hey, Tails... where's the ruby now?"

There was a pause. "It... I don't know," he said, somewhere between alarmed and confused. "It was near your location last I saw, but now its energy is gone. Do you think Eggman escaped?"

Rather than answer immediately, Sonic gave Gadget a closer look. The wolf was staring into the reactor's core, not even squinting even with his pupils shrunk to pinpricks from the brightness. He didn't react when Sonic said his name again, nor when a hand was waved in front of his face. He was just... frozen.

"Could be," Sonic finally said. "Either way, we-"

Something clicked behind them.

Sonic grabbed Gadget and yanked them both out of the bullet's path before the sound fully registered. He didn't miss a beat before spindashing the lone robot responsible and scanning the area for further security.

Which... did not emerge. The room was silent, deserted aside from them and the single heap of scrap. Not exactly Eggman's finest security setup.

Or maybe, Sonic thought as he registered a strange crackling whine behind him, maybe Eggman had been focused on other things. Like avoiding bullet holes in the capsules. Which cracked rather impressively, now that he was looking at the bullet hole in question, and based on the general ominousness of that sound they probably didn't like being punctured and oh that large unfriendly looking light was getting brighter too.

At that point, Sonic decided this was probably a good time to leave.

He slung Gadget over his shoulder and ran for the nearest glint of sunlight - probably an exhaust pipe or something, didn't matter as long as they were outside pronto. The moment they started moving, Gadget finally broke out of his stupor, only to try and shove Sonic away. "Let go, I need to-"

"It's dangerous!" Sonic snapped, more startled than angry. "You're not staying in an unstable reactor, not a chance!"

Gadget didn't seem to hear him, only struggled harder, protests getting more frantic and jumbled until they were wordless shrieks. Sonic only tightened his grip.

A glance back revealed a glow shooting up the tunnel toward them. Sonic pushed more speed into his legs, forcing himself to go faster, whatever Gadget was trying to say torn away by the wind even as he kept trying to pull free. Worrying, but Sonic couldn't focus on that. Whatever was going through Gadget's head, it wouldn't matter if they got caught in the _ow those teeth were sharp and he was using that shoulder!_

He hissed in pain, the shock only making him cling harder. Gadget's teeth remained buried in Sonic's skin for another split second (the glow behind getting closer-) before releasing all at once, replaced by the wolf's face pressing to the same spot. Sonic hissed again as moisture soaked into his fur, stinging the punctures, before the pain faded into the background as he put all his focus into running. He barely even registered the thread of energy fed in from outside, just pulled it in with the rest of his resources as he would a chaos emerald and pushed beyond the limits physics thought it could impose on him.

And then there was daylight, the explosion sounding from far behind and only getting further as he ran through the fortress. Hop between buildings, dash across roads, use momentum to glide up rails he'd zoomed down not so long ago. Gadget was limp in his arms. He worried about that, but until they were in the clear and he could do something about it, he'd just be grateful the kid wasn't fighting anymore.

He suspected that wasn't a good sign.

***

Silver and Tails arrived on the plateau just in time to see Sonic emerge from the fortress. Silver's heart skipped a beat when he saw Sonic setting Gadget on his feet (why wasn't he running too?), then stopped entirely when Gadget's knees buckled under him.

Sonic caught him and eased him the rest of the way down. His hands hovered over Gadget's shoulders for a moment, uncertainty flashing across his features. It shifted to something more cheerful when he caught sight of the others.

Silver focused on Gadget while Tails gave Sonic a recap of their current situation. The wolf was eerily still, not even an ear twitch to indicate some sort of awareness. His cheek fur was damp, like he'd been crying, but his eyes were dry. And the complete lack of life in him was more than a little unnerving. He just sat, staring into the middle distance with the presence of a doll.

"Your shoulder!"

Silver jerked to attention at Tails' cry of alarm, eyes going wide when he finally registered Sonic's injury. "I - is that a bite mark?"

Sonic glanced down at the still oozing punctures like he'd forgotten it was there. "Yep," he said far too casually. "And not even the fun kind."

There was an awkward pause.

_"Anyway_ ," Sonic continued at a less than casual speed. "It's not that bad. A bandage and some disinfectant and it'll heal on its own. I'm more worried about Gadget."

Silver's emotions passed from shock, to concern, to confusion, finally settling on unnerved realization. "He bit you?"

Sonic shrugged, glancing down at Gadget. The wisps had arrived at some point, bouncing around him and chittering in their language, but Gadget remained unresponsive. "I grabbed him to get us out of the reactor, and he... tried to get away. No idea what was going on in his head, but he's been acting weird for a while."

Silver frowned. He had been, hadn't he. Since...

Since he'd been kidnapped.

He cursed inwardly. He'd been so happy to have Gadget back and unhurt that he hadn't even _considered_ what was going on in his head. Even if he somehow wasn't hurt mentally by his imprisonment, if he'd been in proximity to Infinite and by extension the ruby...

Wait. He'd been close to the ruby.

"Silver?"

He looked up at Tails' voice to see two concerned faces. But they barely registered against the realization that if he'd let his guard down while near the ruby - if it was like the last time, what he'd said to Silver-

"He just wanted to fix things," he said distantly, hardly aware he'd spoken out loud.

The ground shook, knocking Silver off his feet. He distantly registered Sonic yelling "Oh come on, now what?!" as he regained his balance.

"Look!"

They followed Tails' pointing finger to the robot rising up behind them, accompanied by Eggman's smug voice projecting through unseen speakers.

"You never fail to surprise me, Sonic. I didn't believe Infinite could lose. But a true winner always keeps his trump card hidden until the end."

All their communicators sounded at once, Vector's yelling coming from three sources. "Sonic, what's going on? There aren't less enemies! There's _more!_ "

Tails' "What?!" was drowned out by further voices.

"How could there be so many?"

"Confirmed sightings indicate Shadow, Metal Sonic, Zavok, Chaos, Infinite... Thousands of them!"

Silver hovered upright, beginning to put some pieces together and becoming increasingly alarmed. "Where's Infinite?" he yelled, half a beat behind Sonic's cry of "What have you done?!"

Eggman cackled again before answering. "I merely incorporated the Phantom ruby into this Death Egg Robot. As for Infinite, he's outlived his usefulness, so I dispelled the illusion and took the ruby back."

"What?!"

The collective cry prompted Eggman to scoff at them. "Oh, come now. Did you really think anyone could survive integrating with that kind of power? The ruby may have simulated well, but in the end, he was just another illusion."

"That makes no sense," Silver stuttered. His eyes drifted to Gadget, seeking some kind of answer. But the wolf only stared unseeing at the ground, the wisps hovering around him now watching Eggman's robot.

Eggman continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Now, this Death Egg Robot has... no, I have surpassed Infinite to become the complete and ultimate form. You will be crushed by this Death Egg Robot powered by the Phantom Ruby, and in the end everything will still be just as I planned!"

He cackled maniacally as the robot sent a wave of energy at them, knocking them all back a few steps. Just far enough to notice that not _all_ of them had been knocked back.

Gadget finished pushing himself upright, eyes fixed straight ahead so they couldn't see his expression. But as he started slowly forward, his voice alone said plenty.

"Give. Him. _Back_."

Eggman paused for a beat, then scoffed. "Really? You of all people should know I'm telling the truth, you were there when-"

" _I said give him back!_ " Gadget screeched, half launching himself toward the robot before Silver could grab him and yank him back.

The robot made a sound like a downed power line and went dark.

"What the-" Silver managed to get out before he was forced to focus on keeping his grip on Gadget.

The other two didn't have the same handicap, and after a brief concerned glance at the pair, Tails' focus was on the robot. "It just shut off," he said, in the well-worn tradition of stating the obvious out of pure disbelief.

Sonic, on the other hand, was still staring at Gadget. "Did he-?"

Silver grimaced as he adjusted his grip for the umpteenth time, finally shifting to hold Gadget with his powers to counter the unpredictable thrashing. "I don't kn- Gadget, calm down!" he snapped. He didn't really expect a response, so he was startled when Gadget twisted around to sign at him in sharp, barely comprehensible motions.

"[Let go, he's still in there, his body's gone but his mind isn't and I can't let Eggman use the ruby when he's-]"

_"Gadget!_ " Silver snapped, wincing internally when the wolf froze. "We're going to stop him-" he wouldn't consider any other possibility- "but are you - the ruby, you said before..." He trailed off as he saw Gadget's face, taking in the weary resolution there. "...You're gonna fight no matter what I say, aren't you."

Gadget's eyes narrowed as he faced the silent robot. "[I have to. I can't let Eggman have the ruby.]"

Both of them jumped when a hand came up to rest on Gadget's shoulder, having half forgotten they weren't alone. "I'm not gonna pretend I know what's going on," Sonic said, "but we're gonna stop Eggman. No matter what. But - and I know this is rich coming from me - you've gotta be _careful_ , bud. No matter what's going on in your head right now, we want you coming out the other end of this _alive_ , got it?"

Gadget blinked, staring at Sonic like he didn't recognize him for a moment. His eyes flashed toward Silver, something uncertain in their depths.

With knowledge the ruby's influence still fresh in his thoughts, Silver quickly put two and two together. "You can't promise that, can you," he said quietly.

Gadget shook his head slowly, though it looked almost like it caused him physical pain to do so.

Silver frowned, eyeing the robot warily. Whatever was keeping it offline wouldn't last forever, and while he'd like to get a head start on wrecking it, he was a lot more worried about it turning back on suddenly. And if they didn't know what had it off in the first place...

"Gadge," Sonic said, voice carefully gentle, "I get that you want to help your friend. But I doubt he'd be happy if you got yourself hurt saving him."

Gadget whipped around to face him, but not before Silver saw something spark in his eyes. His signs this time were slower, but with a rigidity that made it clear how hard he was holding back. "[Say that again.]"

Sonic blinked, apparently as taken aback as Silver. "He... wouldn't want you to get hurt saving him?"

Gadget took a deep, slow breath, then turned back toward Silver with something unreadable in his gaze. "[Then I can be careful. Let's do this.]"

Before Silver could more than begin to process that, the robot crackled back to life, a heavy metal fist landing where the group was standing an instant before.

Eggman's voice crackled from the speakers once more. "You impudent rats! I'll grind you to dust!"

"You'll have to catch us first!" Sonic yelled back before turning to the others. "Tails, see what you can find out about that thing and whatever it's doing with the ruby. As for the rest of us, it's time to kick some robot butt!"

Silver glanced at Gadget, now floating next to him, before nodding and releasing his powers. "Do not die," he said, leaving it at that for the moment.

Gadget nodded, and they took off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: Gadget spends most of the chapter in a compromised mental state, primarily due to the ruby's influence; Sonic gets non-seriously injured, with brief blood mention when the injury is noticed; someone unknowingly says something that Gadget can't disagree with because of the ruby's effects, though Gadget is aware of and okay with this (and still would be if he hadn't been compromised).

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr at lessinkmoregraphite.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's shared thoughts, good or bad, over this story's production. It really helps out a ton, and I endlessly appreciate even the one word responses.


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